Long Doublets in the Septuagint of the Book of Proverbs
With a history of the research on the Greek translations

Abstract

The present research is divided into two main parts. In the first one the history of the studies on the Septuagint translation of the book of Proverbs is addressed; particular attention is given to the recent works by Johann Cook, and by David-Marc d'Hamonville.
In the second part long doublets found in the translation are dealt with (Prov. 2.21; 3.15; 14.22; 15.6). These doublets have been traditionally seen as additions inserted by an early Jewish Revisor or via the hexaplaric recension in order to drive the version closer to the so-called Proto-Masoretic Text. The study aims to show that in 3.15 (where both the qere and the ketiv readings are preserved by the two renderings), 14.22, and 15.6 the translation technique of the first translator of Proverbs can be detected. He seems to be interested in preserving the polysemy of the Hebrew text by means of the double translation. However, in verse 2.21 the translation technique of Theodotion has been recognised in the doublet, and this addition has been tentatively ascribed to an early contact with the καίγε recension rather than to a late insertion from the Hexapla.
Thus, if in most of the cases the doublets do not seem to stem from an early Jewish Revisor, in a few instances they may depend on an early exposure to the Jewish recension identified by modern scholars with the name καίγε.