rakovsky
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Our two foundational Semitic versions of Daniel in scholarship are the Dead Sea Scrolls and Masoretic versions, and they both have a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic. There is also a Hebrew language telling of the Book of Daniel found in the medieval "Chronicles of Jerahmeel." It's unknown how early the telling in the Chronicles of Jerahmeel dates to.
Sometime before the Gospels were written, two translations were made into Greek: The "Old Greek" version and what is called "Theodotion's" version. I guess that the latter is called "Theodotion's" because the second century AD translator Theodotion approved or edited this second ancient version.
The Jewish Encyclopedia notes differences between these two Greek versions, and refers to the Old Greek version as the "Septuagint" version:
Between the Semitic and Greek versions, the Gospels most often cite the Greek version of Daniel, perhaps because the Gospels were written in Greek. For instance, Jesus openly cites Daniel's warning of "the Abomination of Desolation" "in the Holy Place" (Matt. 24:15), which is only in the Greek version of Daniel 9. Out of the two Greek versions, they most often cite the "Old Greek" version. The common story is that the ancient Greek version of the Bible was made by Jewish scholars in the Hellenistic period. The Gospels' citations from the two Greek versions implies that the Gospel writers considered those Greek versions to be legitimate translations.
Typically since medieval times, Christian Bibles that used the Greek version of Daniel have relied on Theodotion's translation, probably at least partly because it's a closer translation to the Masoretic version. Surviving manuscripts of the Old Greek version today are limited.
Manuscripts
Our earliest manuscript of the Old Greek Version is the 2nd-3rd century AD Papyrus 967, discovered in 1931. In this Papyrus, Daniel Chp. 7-8 are placed before Chapters 5-6. This order matches the chronology of events narrated in Daniel's chapters. That is, in both the Masoretic and Greek versions, the events of Chapters 7-8 happen before Chp. 5-6, yet the Masoretic places Chp. 5-6 before 7-8. The Masoretic's order can be partly because the themes of Chapters 5-6 form a literary Chiasm with Chapters 3-4, eg. Chp.6's theme matches Chapter 3's. Also in Papyrus 967, the Book of Daniel ends with the story of Bel and the Dragon, followed by the story of Susanna.
Wikipedia notes:
A second manuscript of the Old Greek version is the Syro-Hexapla, a medieval Syriac-language translation of Origen's Greek Hexaplar.
A third, later manuscript of the Old Greek Version is Chisianus, also known as "Chigi" and "ms. 88." It is the only "Old Greek" version manuscript with the full text of Daniel.
Modern Printed Editions of the Greek text
Henry Barclay Swete published his own Greek-language compilation of the Old Greek Version in 1896-1905, which you can read here:
Due to its date, Swete's version must rely on the Chisianus ms.
The "Literal Translation of the Bible" website has Swete's version of the Old Greek version in interlinear Greek-English form:
J. Paul Tanner wrote in June 2002 about modern attempts by Ziegler and Rahlfs to recreate and publish in print the Greek text of the Old Greek Version:
Ruslan Khazarzar has the Greek text of Rahlfs' Old Greek version here:
The Kata Biblion website has Greek texts for the Old Greek Version, and has Brenton (1851) and Wiki English Translation in the subtitle:
The Options Menu in the upper left corner lets you switch on Interlinear mode.
However, Brenton's 1900 edition doesn't include the Old Greek version's Greek text, just the Greek of Theodotion's version.
So the Kata Biblion website is probably getting this Greek text from another source. I notice that for Daniel 9:26, the Greek text on Kata Biblion matches what Ruslan Khazarzar gives for Ralhfs' Greek text.
Sometime before the Gospels were written, two translations were made into Greek: The "Old Greek" version and what is called "Theodotion's" version. I guess that the latter is called "Theodotion's" because the second century AD translator Theodotion approved or edited this second ancient version.
The Jewish Encyclopedia notes differences between these two Greek versions, and refers to the Old Greek version as the "Septuagint" version:
The Greek work exists in two recensions, (1) that of the Septuagint and (2) that of Theodotion, both of which are given, with various readings, in Swete’s „Old Testament in Greek.” The two, though substantially identical, differ in a number of details. Thus, in the Septuagint, besides the reference to a prophecy of Habakkuk, Daniel is called a priest, the son of Habal, and is introduced as a person previously unknown; while the name of the king of Babylon, whose friend he was, is not given. In Theodotion the king is Cyrus, who is said to be the successor of Astyages; Daniel is not called a priest; and nothing is said of a prophecy of Habakkuk. The style of the Septuagint is simpler and more Hebraic; Theodotion is fuller, more dramatic, and more polished. It may be in part a revision of the Septuagint; but it appears also to follow other authorities, or to be based on a different version of the stories from that given in the Septuagint. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2795-bel-and-the-dragon#anchor2)
Between the Semitic and Greek versions, the Gospels most often cite the Greek version of Daniel, perhaps because the Gospels were written in Greek. For instance, Jesus openly cites Daniel's warning of "the Abomination of Desolation" "in the Holy Place" (Matt. 24:15), which is only in the Greek version of Daniel 9. Out of the two Greek versions, they most often cite the "Old Greek" version. The common story is that the ancient Greek version of the Bible was made by Jewish scholars in the Hellenistic period. The Gospels' citations from the two Greek versions implies that the Gospel writers considered those Greek versions to be legitimate translations.
Typically since medieval times, Christian Bibles that used the Greek version of Daniel have relied on Theodotion's translation, probably at least partly because it's a closer translation to the Masoretic version. Surviving manuscripts of the Old Greek version today are limited.
Manuscripts
Our earliest manuscript of the Old Greek Version is the 2nd-3rd century AD Papyrus 967, discovered in 1931. In this Papyrus, Daniel Chp. 7-8 are placed before Chapters 5-6. This order matches the chronology of events narrated in Daniel's chapters. That is, in both the Masoretic and Greek versions, the events of Chapters 7-8 happen before Chp. 5-6, yet the Masoretic places Chp. 5-6 before 7-8. The Masoretic's order can be partly because the themes of Chapters 5-6 form a literary Chiasm with Chapters 3-4, eg. Chp.6's theme matches Chapter 3's. Also in Papyrus 967, the Book of Daniel ends with the story of Bel and the Dragon, followed by the story of Susanna.
Wikipedia notes:
Wikipedia also notes that the Papyrus has Greek letter superscriptions for each chapter, and takes this to mean that the chapter designations are original for Daniel.The surviving 59 manuscript pages of P 967 are at present kept in five different places.
- 29 foll. in Chester Beatty Library (Dublin) as Chester Beatty IX-X...
- 21 foll. as John H. Scheide Papyrus 3 in Princeton University Library
- Substantial portions are kept by Cologne University Library
- 2 foll. in Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, Barcelona as Scriptorium Biblicum et Orientale P Barc. Inv. 42 + 43
- Several foll. in Madrid, as Fundación Pastor de Estudios Clásicos, P Matr. 1
A second manuscript of the Old Greek version is the Syro-Hexapla, a medieval Syriac-language translation of Origen's Greek Hexaplar.
A third, later manuscript of the Old Greek Version is Chisianus, also known as "Chigi" and "ms. 88." It is the only "Old Greek" version manuscript with the full text of Daniel.
Modern Printed Editions of the Greek text
Henry Barclay Swete published his own Greek-language compilation of the Old Greek Version in 1896-1905, which you can read here:
The "Literal Translation of the Bible" website has Swete's version of the Old Greek version in interlinear Greek-English form:
J. Paul Tanner wrote in June 2002 about modern attempts by Ziegler and Rahlfs to recreate and publish in print the Greek text of the Old Greek Version:
The primary edition of the OG [Old Greek] has been that of Ziegler (1954, 1968).23 However, it was based on ms 88, Syh and one portion of papyrus 967 (namely, the Chester Beatty fragments). Unfortunately, Ziegler's edition is lacking some of the crucial manuscript evidence, as the Cologne and Barcelona fragments of 967 were not available to him at the time. Yet there are a number of variants between 967 and Ziegler's text.24 Furthermore, McLay contends that there are instances where the reading of 967 should be accepted over Ziegler's text. He concludes, "There is no doubt that 967 is the more faithful witness to the original OG text."25 At this point, we must still await the publication of a standard critical edition of the OG text, though McLay mentions that a new revised edition of Ziegler's text is in preparation by O. Munnich. Naturally, Rahlfs' 1935 edition of the Septuagint is even more deficient for OG, since none of the fragments of papyrus 967 had been published at that time.26
Ruslan Khazarzar has the Greek text of Rahlfs' Old Greek version here:
The Kata Biblion website has Greek texts for the Old Greek Version, and has Brenton (1851) and Wiki English Translation in the subtitle:
However, Brenton's 1900 edition doesn't include the Old Greek version's Greek text, just the Greek of Theodotion's version.
So the Kata Biblion website is probably getting this Greek text from another source. I notice that for Daniel 9:26, the Greek text on Kata Biblion matches what Ruslan Khazarzar gives for Ralhfs' Greek text.
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