Happy the one who has discovered Codex Sinaiticus online (HT James
Davila: as often, James provides background links of interest)! To be sure,
thanks to James Adair, reliable
images of the pseudofacsimile of this very important manuscript of the
Bible in Greek have long been available. But the website in development, thanks
to a ground-breaking partnership between The British Library, UK, Leipzig University
Library, Germany, St
Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, and The National Library of Russia, St Petersburg, takes the
cake. It sets a new standard of excellence. Below the fold, I describe its
features and offer suggestions for improvement.
This page
contains easy-to-follow instructions for use of the site. High-resolution photographs of the manuscript make it possible to zoom in at very close range. In addition, a transcription of the contents of the photographs is provided, with identification of correctors' hands. The Psalms of
Codex Sinaiticus are already available, along with a newly revised version
of Al Pietersma’s English translation of the Psalms as found in Rahlfs’ Septuaginta.
Pietersma’s translation has been adapted to reflect Codex Sinaiticus in its
final corrected form. For example, in Psalm 7:7, the corrected Codex Sinaiticus
reads:
αναϲτηθι κε εν οργη ϲου
υψωθητι εν τοιϲ περαϲι των εχθρων μ(ου)
κ(αι) εξεγερθητι κε ο θϲ μου εν προϲταγμα
τι ω ενετειλω
A macron occurs over the
abbreviations for κύριε and θεός in the manuscript (not reproduced above). The translation on the site follows the above text, and reads:
7 Rise up, O Lord,
in your wrath; be exalted at the ends of my enemies, and awake, O Lord my God,
with the ordinance you commanded.
Note the and before awake and the O Lord
before my God. They correspond to additions to the original autograph. Pietersma 1 (see bibliography below) differs in several ways, no least because its Vorlage is different: Rise up, O Lord,
in your wrath; // be exalted in the boundaries of my enemies; // and awake, O
my God, with the decree you issued. Pietersma 2 is closer in choice of wording, but not
identical: Rise up, O Lord, in your wrath; // be exalted at the deaths of my
enemies; // and awake, O my God, with the ordinance you commanded.
The uncorrected Codex Sinaiticus reads:
αναϲτηθι κε εν οργη ϲου
υψωθητι εν τοιϲ περαϲι των εχθρων μ(ου)
εξεγερθητι ο θϲ μου εν προϲταγμα
τι ω ενετειλω
Rise up, O L(ord), in your wrath
be exalted in the end-fates of m(y)
enemies
awake,
my God, with the injunction you laid down (my translation)
Note the absence of and before awake and
the absence of O Lord before my God.
For comparison’s sake, Rahlfs (and
Rahlfs-Hanhart) reads:
ἀνάστηθι, κύριε, ἐν ὀργῇ σου,
ὑψώθητι ἐν τοῖς πέρασι τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου ·
ἐξεγέρθητι,
κύριε, ὁ θεός μου,
ἐν προστάγματι, ᾧ ἐνετείλω,
Rise up, O L(ord), in your wrath,
be exalted in the end-fates of
my enemies.
Awake,
O Lord, my God, with the injunction you laid down (my translation)
Note
that Rahlfs punctuates the text according to principles of his own invention.
MT reads:
קוּמָה יְהוָה בְּאַפֶּךָ
הִנָּשֵׂא בְּעַבְרוֹת צוֹרְרָי
וְעוּרָה אֵלַי
מִשְׁפָּט צִוִּיתָ
Arise,
יהוה,
in your anger,
rise
up against the fury of my foes!
And rouse
yourself on my behalf:
you have ordained judgment! (my translation)
ΜΤ’s
אֵלַי
should be revocalized, per the Greek, as אֵלִי ‘my God.’
NRSV, REB, NJB, NIV, NLT, and others so emend, but silently, or – the case of
NRSV – with a misleading footnote. Silent emendation should have no place in Bible
translation.
Suggestions for Improvement of
Codex Sinaiticus Online
(1) Introduce
the sigla and footnote system found in the transcription into the offered translation. That way, it will be clear what part of the translation
represents the uncorrected Sinaiticus, what part that of S1, etc.
(2)
Source
the translation and the date of its last revision.
(3)
Preserve
the stichometric arrangement of Sinaiticus in translation. For example, at
Psalm 3:8, Pietersma 1 reads:
Rise up, O Lord! Save me, O my God!
For you are the one who struck all who are hostile to me
for nothing;
you shattered
the teeth of sinners.
Pietersma 2
reads:
Rise up, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you are the one who struck all who are hostile to me
for nothing;
the teeth of sinners you shattered.
Pietersma 3
reads:
Rise up, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you are the one who struck all who are hostile to me for nothing; the teeth of sinners you shattered.
Pietersma 1
(happens to) reflect the stichometry of Codex Sinaiticus. Pietersma 2 reflects the probable
stichometry of the underlying Hebrew text. Pietersma 3 ignores the stichometry
of its base text. Delimitation of units and subunits in ancient manuscripts is
a field of study which is coming into its own. The work of Marjo Korpel and
colleagues is of great interest: go here
for details. It would be a pity if these details were not accurately
represented in translation.
Bibliography
Rahlfs = Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Septuaginta
Id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes (Stuttgart: Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft, 1935).
Rahlfs-Hanhart = Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Robert
Hanhart, rev., Septuaginta Id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX
interpretes (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006).
Pietersma 1 = The English translation of the
Greek Psalter in John R. Kohlenberger III, ed., The Comparative Psalter:
Hebrew – [English;] – Greek – English (New York: Oxford University Press,
2007).
Pietersma 2 = “Psalms” in Albert Pietersma
and Benjamin G. Wright, eds., A New English Translation of the Septuagint
and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included under That Title
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2007) 542-619.
Pietersma 3 = The Psalms of
Codex Sinaiticus: English Translation (accessed July 26, 2008).
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