Methodological Issues Preliminary to a Lexicon of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion

Abstract

This article does not deal with the question whether it would be preferable to make a lexicon of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion respectively (i.e. of each reviser separately) or one that integrates the vocabulary of The Three into one and the same lexicon, or whether the lexicon should constitute an independent work or a Supplement to already existing LXX lexicons. The questions dealt with here are preliminary to any lexicographic work on the hexaplaric material. There are a number of methodological remarks that one simply avoid once the decision to compile a lexicon of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion has been taken. For such a lexicon of The Three to be fruitful, it will have to overcome some serious obstacles from the very beginning. First, the data to be incorporated in the lexicon will have to be collected from different sources. Second, the sources used will be, at their best, but a few fragments consisting of a couple of sentences and, in most cases, just single words. The article also considers the implications of the lack of context for The Three and analyses the purposes or motives of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion for making their translation of the Hebrew OT, attempting to determine the extent to which this influences the work of lexicography.