Kauhanen, Tuukka

English

Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto

https://helda.helsinki.fiChristian Schäfer, Alfred Rahlfs (1865-1935) und die kritischeEdition der Septuaginta: Einebiographisch-wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studie (BZAW 489).Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 2016. [Book review]Kauhanen, Tuukka2019Kauhanen , T 2019 , ' Christian Schäfer, Alfred Rahlfs (1865-1935) und die kritische Editionder Septuaginta: Eine biographisch-wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studie (BZAW 489).Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 2016. [Book review] ' , Biblische Notizen : aktuelle Beiträge zurExegese der Bibel und ihrer Welt. , no. 183 , pp. 130-132 .http://hdl.handle.net/10138/308904cc_by_nc_sapublishedVersionDownloaded from Helda, University of Helsinki institutional repository.This is an electronic reprint of the original article.This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail.Please cite the original version.  BN NF 183 (2019) 130-132  Christian Schäfer, Alfred Rahlfs (1865-1935) und die kritische Edition der Septuaginta: Eine biographisch-wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studie (BZAW 489), XII + 520 S., € 129,95, Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-045184-9.  The name “Rahlfs” is most often associated with the pocket edition of the Septuagint. Christian Schäfer’s doctoral thesis, of which the present volume is a version, examines the life and works of this brilliant scholar, Alfred Rahlfs, whose name has become almost a synonym to “Septuagint”. It is clear that there are very few persons in the world who could have written such a book: the author shows a thorough command of both historiography and LXX studies. Schäfer has already established himself as a most reliable authority in all matters concerning the Göttingen LXX editions with his marvellous Benutzerhandbuch zur Göttinger Septuaginta (two vols; 2012, 2013). Part A, “Das Leben von Alfred Rahlfs,” informs us, e.g., about Rahlfs’s relationship with his Doktorvater, P.A. de Lagarde, and his early work with Syriac texts (Barhebraeus and Peshitta). Especially interesting is the section about the early years of the Göttinger Septuaginta-Unternehmen of which Rahlfs was the first director (1908-1935). Part B, “Die Septuaginta-Arbeit von Alfred Rahlfs – eine werkgeschichtliche Analyse” goes through Rahlfs’s research on the LXX and related themes. In Lukians Rezension der Königsbücher (Septuaginta-Studien 3; 1911) Rahlfs abandoned a part of Lagarde’s text-historical theory and paved way for a new, more nuanced, understanding of the nature of the Lucianic text in the Historical Books. The catalogue of LXX manuscripts (“Verzeichnis”) edited by Rahlfs in 1914 is still valid for most parts. In addition to those books, Rahlfs produced critical editions of Genesis, Ruth, and Psalms, as well as the pocket edition of the whole LXX. With these editions, the Lagardian ideal of an Urtext was substituted with a more modest goal of presenting the oldest attainable text. In addition, Lagarde’s theory of neatly divided three recensions, Origenic, Hesychian, and Lucianic, was abandoned for a more flexible scheme with multiple manuscript groups. (p. 220) The pocket edition of 1935 was never meant to present a definitive critical text but to provide the reader a means to access a better Greek text than any diplomatic edition could. Part C, “Der Beitrag von Alfred Rahlfs zur Textkritik und Editionstechnik der Septuaginta” is probably the section that is most interesting to biblical scholars. In its first chapter, “Rahlfs als ‘Textkritiker’ der Septuaginta,” the reader will learn of Rahlfs’s methodology concerning issues such as the use of translation technique in textual criticism. Rahlfs did not put much weight on the majority principle, i.e., that the majority of the witnesses should be followed. Indeed, it is generally acknow-ledged that Rahlfs relied greatly on codex Vaticanus (B) in choosing the oldest attainable reading, especially when B and codex Alexandrinus (A) go together. That was not, however, because of the old age of B; the age as such is not the decisive criterion but, rather, the quality. Schäfer reminds us that Rahlfs did not follow B uncritically. In addition to correcting many of its itacisms and scribal errors, he substituted late Greek forms with those that were in use at the time of the translation. In addition, Rahlfs chose the reading of the rest of the witnesses when the B-reading was clearly erroneous. (p. 345-347) Rahlfs did not often prefer conjectures but was by no means opposed to the practice as many examples demonstrate (p. 366-370). For his edition of Psalms (1931), Rahlfs laid out a set of considerations in choosing the original reading: 1. When all the textual traditions agree, apart from in clear Christian additions, their reading should be departed from only when they present a clear error. 2. An inner-Greek variant can be corrected with, e.g., Old Latin witnesses or even with a back-translation of the Hebrew text. 3. A reading of the oldest textual traditions can be the original one even when it agrees with the Hebrew text against the younger Greek traditions. 4. Respectively, when the younger Greek traditions (esp. Hexaplaric and Lucianic) are more in agreement with the Hebrew, the reading least in agreement with the Hebrew is to be preferred. 5. When in doubt, choose the reading in which B and codex Sinaiticus (S) agree. Schäfer emphasizes that Rahlfs himself did not follow these considerations mechanically as, indeed, no textual critic should. They do, however, explain many of his text-critical decisions (p. 371-373). The final chapter, “Rahlfs as ‘Editionstechniker’ der Septuaginta”, provides invaluable information for those interested in the technical aspect of the Göttingen Septuagint editions. Especially illustrative are the comparisons between the Ruth editions of Rahlfs (1922) and Udo Quast (2006) and those of Genesis by Rahlfs (1926) and Wevers (1974). (p. 390-403) Perhaps surprisingly, the author criticizes the overtly complex and detailed nature of Quast’s apparatus even when it comes to the exhaustive notation of the Greek manuscripts. It is more understandable that the author has reserves against Wever’s tendency of citing the patristic evidence in painstaking detail. Schäfer proposes that a solution between exhaustiveness of an editio critica maior and readability might be achieved by a more substantial use of a sub-apparatus for “variants-within-variants”. That way the essence of the variation could be seen in one glance, yet the details would be readily at hand after the main reading and its attestation (p. 414-416). The book ends with a handsome set of appendices, including a bibliography of Rahlfs works, reproductions of important documents, manuscripts lists for Rahlfs’s editions, and indexes of persons and select biblical passages. The footnotes occupy a great part of an average page and one wonders if some of them could have been combined into one or two footnotes without losing vital information (e.g., fn. 167-173 on p. 38), or whether some background information could have been condensed. The German is mostly readable for a non-German with an adequate understanding of the language. I congratulate the author and warmly recommend the book to readers interested in history of biblical studies, especially that of the Septuagint.  Tuukka Kauhanen, Helsinki  

Christian Schäfer, Alfred Rahlfs (1865-1935) und die kritische Edition der Septuaginta: Eine biographisch-wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studie (BZAW 489). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 2016. [Book review]

https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/10138/308904/1/Sch_fer.pdf

Christian Schäfer, Alfred Rahlfs (1865-1935) und die kritische Edition der Septuaginta: Eine biographisch-wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studie (BZAW 489). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 2016. [Book review]

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Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto