The Greek of the Ancient Synagogue : An Investigation on the Greek of the Septuagint, Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament

Abstract: This study attempts to test the hypothesis that there existed a peculiar variety of Greek which was used for certain purposes by Jewish and Christian writers in the context of the synagogue. It is argued that the origin of this variety was the translation Greek of the Pentateuch, and the background for the hypothesis is the polyglossic nature of the Greek language, i.e., several varieties were used for different genres or situations of speech. The participles, the conjunctions and the particles in the Pentateuch are investigated, and the results are compared to what we find in a number of other texts. Both texts having an origin within the context of the synagogue and texts having no reference to the synagogue are investigated. The comparison leads to the conclusion that there is a group of texts having an origin within the context of the synagogue, which show close affinity with the Pentateuch and with each other, but differ significantly from the texts having no reference to the synagogue. The Hebrew original for models of the same features in the Pentateuch is also investigated, and it is concluded that the differences between the Greek of the Pentateuch and the texts with no reference to the synagogue can mostly be attributed to influence from the original text, but that the translation technique of the translators also has left clear traces. One basic assumption of the investigation is that Greek texts produced in the context of the synagogue should be viewed against the background of the sociolinguistic situation manifesting itself in other Greek texts of the period. To test this assumption we use the concept of diglossia. It is argued that the peculiar variety of Greek found in the Pentateuch seems to be yet another variety of Greek used for a particular genre, intended for a certain audience, and dealing with the same subject-matter.