Saturday, July 5, 2014

"Breasts" in LXX Song of Songs

What do I do on my sabbatical? I kept two boxes of my books, some I have not read but some are the Old Greek or LXX. I will try to read the LXX as much as I can during my sabbatical. I started with the Song of Songs this afternoon. The shorter books before I tackle the heavy stuff. I remember reading the Song of Songs as a teenager only 2 years after my conversion. I studied the book for several weeks. I noted all the different flowers, the flora and fauna of Solomon's garden.
The OG version is a very literal translation of the Hebrew except in several places. One outstanding example is how the LXX translator translated the Hebrew word for "love" or "loving". A different vocalization of the word could give the reading as "breasts" instead of love. So in Ch. 1:2, we have in the OG, "your breasts are better than wine" and not "your love is better than wine."

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