Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

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S Walch
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Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by S Walch »

I was looking at the Septuagint's rendition of Leviticus 23:11: καὶ ἀνοίσει τὸ δράγμα ἔναντι κυρίου δεκτὸν ὑμῖν, τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης ἀνοίσει αὐτὸ ὁ ἱερεύς - and just couldn't quite fathom as to what πρώτης could be referring to.

C. Brenton translates it as "first [day]", but I just don't quite see how it can be referring to a "first day", and then, it still doesn't answer the question of exactly what "first day" is being referred to.

I couldn't see anything in the Greek surrounding v11 that could possibly give a clear indication as to what πρώτης is being used to refer to.

Cross checking this with the Hebrew, τῆς πρώτης is translating the Hebrew הַשַּׁבָּת "the Sabbath". Are there any other examples in the LXX of where τῆς πρώτης is translating the underlying Hebrew שַּׁבָּת?

S Walch
Ken M. Penner
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by Ken M. Penner »

S Walch wrote:I was looking at the Septuagint's rendition of Leviticus 23:11: καὶ ἀνοίσει τὸ δράγμα ἔναντι κυρίου δεκτὸν ὑμῖν, τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης ἀνοίσει αὐτὸ ὁ ἱερεύς - and just couldn't quite fathom as to what πρώτης could be referring to.
Brenton translates it as "first [day]", but I just don't quite see how it can be referring to a "first day", and then, it still doesn't answer the question of exactly what "first day" is being referred to.
I couldn't see anything in the Greek surrounding v11 that could possibly give a clear indication as to what πρώτης is being used to refer to.
Cross checking this with the Hebrew, τῆς πρώτης is translating the Hebrew הַשַּׁבָּת "the Sabbath". Are there any other examples in the LXX of where τῆς πρώτης is translating the underlying Hebrew שַּׁבָּת?
I don't see anywhere else ἡ πρώτη stands for השבת. But does 1 Ch 29:21 καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν ὁλοκαυτώματα τῷ θεῷ τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας help? It doesn't translate Shabbat, but its τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας supplies the substantive missing from τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης.
FWIW, NETS has
Dirk Büchner wrote:11 And he shall raise up the sheaf before the Lord, acceptable for you; on the day after the first the priest shall raise it up.
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
S Walch
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by S Walch »

Thanks for the verse reference, Mr. Penner.

Well, I'd essentially think that τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας is an elongated way of saying "the next day". But that certainly is the closest looking parallel, although it has nothing to do with the feasts in Leviticus 23.

Seems like NETS has had a similar sort of problem, wondering what on earth "the first" could be referring to in the wider context.

Either this is just a nonsensical reading of the Septuagint; the translator has misread what הַשַּׁבָּת could quite possibly be (although how one could misread שַּׁבָּת/Shabbat as some form of רִאשֹׁון/re'shown/first is beyond my comprehension); or we have a deleted/omitted/ellipted word here in the textual tradition of the Septuagint.

The only thing I could think of regarding reading it as πρωτης is the fact that רִאשֹׁון/re'shown/first is closely related to רֵאשִׁית/re'shiyth/firstfruits, and instead of translating it usually as απαρχη, the translator was attempting to flesh it out. But then this just doesn't coincide with the underlying word being שַּׁבָּת/Shabbat.

Does anyone know if there are some textual differences here in the manuscripts of the Septuagint? I unfortunately don't have access to any to look at.

S Walch
George F Somsel
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by George F Somsel »

11 ἀνοίσει 1°] αναφερει 85′mg-321′mg; ανθισει 318 | τὸ δράγμα 931] το δραχμα M′ 82 85*(vid)-346* 392 55*; τα δραγματα 376 134 AethM; τα δωρα x-509; om τό oI | ἔναντι κυρίου] -τιον κ̅υ̅ 52′ 130mg-321′c-344mg 319; ενωπιον κ̅υ̅ 376; > 318; post ὑμῖν tr 121 | ὑμῖν] ημιν 730; > oI-15 | τῇ ἐπαύριον] pr offeretis id Sa3; pr και 15 130mg-321′mg -344mg y-121 Aeth Arm; > 53′ | ἐπαύριον] sup ras 129 | πρώτης] + των σαββατων 29 68′ 319 AethCRa | ἀνοίσει 2°] pr και 16; bis scr 129 | αὐτό] αυτω 376-707 53′-246*; αυτον V; αυτα A B* n-767 121* 319; > AethMPR
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RandallButh
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by RandallButh »

I wonder if the substitution of ημερης for σαββατου is related to the controversy of the counting of the `omer? Some interpreted shabbat to refer to the 15th of Nisan, others to the normal shabbat of the week in which the 15th of Nisan fell. 'the first' might be a midrashic appositive that refers to the first day of the week, Sunday, in order to explicitly avoid the other reading. The genitive may appear strange for an appositive to a dative, but the dative and accusative would be problematic, too, and would not have made Sunday as explicit.
S Walch
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by S Walch »

George F Somsel wrote:11 ἀνοίσει 1°] αναφερει 85′mg-321′mg; ανθισει 318 | τὸ δράγμα 931] το δραχμα M′ 82 85*(vid)-346* 392 55*; τα δραγματα 376 134 AethM; τα δωρα x-509; om τό oI | ἔναντι κυρίου] -τιον κ̅υ̅ 52′ 130mg-321′c-344mg 319; ενωπιον κ̅υ̅ 376; > 318; post ὑμῖν tr 121 | ὑμῖν] ημιν 730; > oI-15 | τῇ ἐπαύριον] pr offeretis id Sa3; pr και 15 130mg-321′mg -344mg y-121 Aeth Arm; > 53′ | ἐπαύριον] sup ras 129 | πρώτης] + των σαββατων 29 68′ 319 AethCRa | ἀνοίσει 2°] pr και 16; bis scr 129 | αὐτό] αυτω 376-707 53′-246*; αυτον V; αυτα A B* n-767 121* 319; > AethMPR
Excellent. Thanks for that Mr. Somsel. Could I ask where you got this from?

So four other sources for Leviticus 23:9 add on των σαββατων after της πρωτης, therefore more or less conforming it to the underlying Hebrew. This would mean that either they had access to the underlying Hebrew, or to other manuscripts that had των σαββατων here as well.

I managed to find an image of Codex Vaticanus in this place, and it certainly just has της πρωτης there.

I'm wondering however, whether the scribes that include των σαββατων aren't just influenced by the first section of Leviticus 23:15: Καὶ ἀριθμήσετε ὑμεῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπαύριον τῶν σαββάτων - which is also referring to the same day as that mentioned in Leviticus 23:11. Do 29, 68′, 319, & AethCRa also include της πρωτης in Leviticus 23:15?
RandallButh wrote:I wonder if the substitution of ημερης for σαββατου is related to the controversy of the counting of the `omer? Some interpreted shabbat to refer to the 15th of Nisan, others to the normal shabbat of the week in which the 15th of Nisan fell. 'the first' might be a midrashic appositive that refers to the first day of the week, Sunday, in order to explicitly avoid the other reading. The genitive may appear strange for an appositive to a dative, but the dative and accusative would be problematic, too, and would not have made Sunday as explicit.
I too was thinking this. Both Josephus and Philo state that the tradition during their time was to have Firstfruits on the second day of Unleavened bread:

But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them. - Josephus: The Antiquities of the Jews: 3.250 (Or Book 3, Chapter 10)

There is also a festival on the day of the paschal feast, which succeeds the first day, and this is named the sheaf, from what takes place on it; for the sheaf is brought to the altar as a first fruit both of the country... - Philo: The Special Laws, II: 162

But even today, there are some Jewish groups (especially the Karaites) who don't have it always on the sixteenth of Nisan/Abib, but after the first seventh-day Shabbat that appears during Unleavened bread.

I wonder whether the Septuagint translator had indeed wanted to make it explicit as to what day it was, possibly attempting to create something like "And he shall raise the sheaf up before Yahweh, acceptable for you all; on the day after (this being the first day of the week), the priest shall raise it up." Or he (they?) could've wanted to make the 16th of Nisan/Abib explicit, with της πρωτης meaning the first day of unleavened bread, "And he shall raise the sheaf up before Yahweh, acceptable for you all; on the day after the first (day of unleavened bread) the priest shall raise it up."

Essentially, I was hoping to find something in the Greek text itself that could clarify as to what "first" was being referred to, be it the first day of the week, or the first day of unleavened bread :)
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by Ken M. Penner »

S Walch wrote:Excellent. Thanks for that Mr. Somsel. Could I ask where you got this from?
That's the Göttingen edition apparatus. The other major edition with textual apparatus is available online at
http://www.archive.org/stream/OldTestam ... 1/mode/2up
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
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S Walch
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by S Walch »

Thanks for the fantastic link, Mr. Penner.

It appears that της πρωτης hasn't been added in any manuscript to Leviticus 23:15, therefore, in my opinion, demonstrating that the scribes of 29, 68′, 319, & AethCRa either had access to Septuagint manuscripts that had της πρωτης των σαββατων in them, or had access to a Hebrew original and so added in των σαββατων accordingly.

I also thought I'd consult the Vulgate, and it has this for Lev 23:11: qui elevabit fasciculum coram Domino ut acceptabile sit pro vobis altero die sabbati et sanctificabit illum.

Now my Latin isn't all that good, but I'm relatively certain that altero die sabbati means "on the day after the Sabbath".

I'm thinking that the scribe of Vaticanus, or its exemplar, accidentally omitted των σαββατων from Leviticus 23:11.
Ken M. Penner
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by Ken M. Penner »

S Walch wrote:It appears that της πρωτης hasn't been added in any manuscript to Leviticus 23:15, therefore, in my opinion, demonstrating that the scribes of 29, 68′, 319, & AethCRa either had access to Septuagint manuscripts that had της πρωτης των σαββατων in them, or had access to a Hebrew original and so added in των σαββατων accordingly.
...
I'm thinking that the scribe of Vaticanus, or its exemplar, accidentally omitted των σαββατων from Leviticus 23:11.
Before you make this latter conclusion, check the dates of manuscripts 29, 68 (and 122), and 319. They are from the 10th century at the earliest; some are from the 15th century. Then check the dates of all the other manuscripts (including Alexandrinus and Vaticanus) that lack των σαββατων. It seems that των σαββατων was never part of the Septuagint text here.
Consider the possibility that των σαββατων derives from a later Greek edition corrected towards the Hebrew.

See Field's Hexapla, at http://www.archive.org/stream/origenish ... 6/mode/2up
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
S Walch
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Re: Leviticus 23:11 - πρώτης

Post by S Walch »

It appears that http://openlibrary.org/ has quite a few usual texts on it.

So essentially, the addition of των σαββατων is a correction towards a Hebrew original, which was one of the options I had certainly considered.

Would the fact that only πρωτης is here in Leviticus 23:11 therefore be an example of an error in the Septuagint translation?

It's either that, or there is an unknown Hebrew reading here of Leviticus 23:11, which just leaves it as ambiguous as to what "first" is being referred to.
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