The nature of Septuagint Greek: language and lexicography

Language provides core evidence for addressing most of the central questions of LXX studies. The achievement of an accurate understanding of the special nature of the Greek in which the LXX is composed is thus a key scholarly desideratum. Although the corpus does not lightly yield its linguistic secrets, significant progress has been made in recent scholarship. This chapter considers the linguistic and stylistic heterogeneity of the LXX corpus. It outlines the development of the main lines of interpretation, from emphasis on the ‘Semitic’ features of translation Greek to focus on natural Greek characteristics. It also traces the history of LXX lexicography from Rosenbach to Muraoka, taking into account the oblique impact of recent large-scale translation projects. Lastly it addresses the dynamic current state of research, and points to results that may flow from systematic analyses of the material that locate it within its broader linguistic context as a set of key specimens of early Koine Greek.