New English Translation of the Septuagint
From Textus Receptus
The New English Translation of the Septuagint [] is a modern translation of the scriptures used by Greek-speaking Christians and Jews of antiquity. The translation was sponsored by the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS). The Psalms were published in 2000 and the complete Septuagint (LXX) in 2007.
The NETS translators selected the best critical editions of the Septuagint, primarily the larger Göttingen Septuagint (as far as it was completed at the time of translation) and Alfred Rahlfs's manual edition for the books still missing from the Göttingen edition. The text was not rendered into a brand new translation; instead, the translators revised the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), altering it to match the wording of the Greek and removing gender-inclusive language that was not warranted by the underlying source texts. It was hoped the relationship between the NETS and the NRSV would mirror the relationship between the LXX and its underlying Hebrew text, making it easy for readers to study the discrepancies between the two textual traditions without extensive study of the original languages. []
The Committees
Two committees are listed for NETS, the Advisory Committee and the Editorial Committee. The Advisory Committee consists of four individuals: Jan de Waard,[] Bruce Metzger, Emanuel Tov, and John W. Wevers. [] The Editorial Committee consists of Dave Aiken, Cameron Boyd-Taylor, Dirk Buchner, Leonard Greenspoon, Rob Hiebert, Fritz Knobloch, Robert A. Kraft, Al Pietersma (co-chair), Moises Silva, Bernard Taylor, Jay Treat, Ben Wright (co-chair). []
Footnotes
- 1. NETS, New English Translation of the Septuagint Accessed March 26, 2011
- 2. Pietersma, Albert and Wright, Benjamin. Co-chairs. General Introduction: To the Reader of NETS. Accessed March 26, 2011
- 3. Jan de Waard received his PhD from the University of Leiden in 1965. In addition to his career as a translation specialist of the United Bible Societies in Africa and Europe, he has been teaching Old Testament in the University of Strasbourg and is Professor Emeritus in the Free University of Amsterdam. He also was responsible for the publication of Ruth in the Biblia Hebraica Quinta: General Introduction and Megilloth fascicle. See Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) Fourth fascicle: Proverbs Accessed March 26, 2011
- 4. REV. PROF. JOHN WILLIAM WEVERS (1919-2010). Professor Emeritus, Near Eastern Studies, University of Toronto. Born in Baldwin, Wisconsin. Died at Toronto. An active member of Toronto's Rosedale Presbyterian Church from 1951. Received his Th.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1946 and taught there for five years. He worked for the University of Toronto from 1951 until his retirement in 1984. Professor Wevers was the internationally recognized scholar in the field of Septuagint Studies. He published thousands of pages of scholarship on the Bible including the first five volumes in the standard critical text edition of the Septuagint. Served as President of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies. He was awarded many honours. Served as chair of the Presbyterian Church of Canada's Administrative Council. He was fluent in German and Dutch, could communicate orally in Arabic and French and could understand and write Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. He taught English on CBC TV 'Let's Speak English'. He wrote Libretti for 'Job: a Musical Drama', 'A Psalmic Liturgy' and 16 Anthems for which his son Harold composed the music. Globe and Mail, July 31, 2010 Accessed March 26, 2011
- 5. NETS Committees Accessed March 26, 2011
