The Newly Discovered Fragments of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr) and the Problem of Translation Standardisation

Abstract

In March 2021, for the first time in sixty years new Dead Sea Scroll fragments were discovered. These fragments increase the extant text of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr), which is arguably the most interesting of all the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls. One of the reasons why the scroll is significant and unique is that it witnesses to the kaige revision of the Septuagint and makes possible a comparison between the revised text and the Old Greek text. My analysis of these fragments addresses the problem of translation standardisation. Kaige revisional activity updates numerous non-standard translation equivalents that are idiomatic in the Old Greek translations. The kaige version replaces such equivalents with established translations of words and phrases that are not necessarily peculiar to the revision but are found in the majority of Septuagint texts as well. These hidden changes interfere with our received texts, so they need documenting.