THE OPEN BOOK AND THE SEALED BOOK: JEREMIAH 32 AND ITS HEBREW AND GREEK RECENSIONS, JSOTS 347, HBV 3

Written by Andrew G. Shead Reviewed By Daniel M. Gurtner

This book analyses the translation technique employed in the Septuagint of each section of Jeremiah 32 (1–15, 16–25, 26–36, 36–44) and its variances from the Hebrew. Shead concludes that the priority commonly given to the Vorlage of the Greek (the original Hebrew text from which the Greek was translated) is exaggerated. The numerous differences between the LXX Vorlage of Jeremiah 32 and its Masoretic counterpart are, Shead contends, the result of scribal error in transmission of the text where the scribe has accidentally omitted a portion of a text because of its similarity to adjacent material (haplography).

This book is highly technical and not only presumes an intimate knowledge of textual issues related to Jeremiah (esp. 32), but also a working knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin, and German. Readers who think this work may be helpful for their own project are advised to first read short ‘Conclusion and Discussion’ (242–63) to see if issues pertinent to their work are addressed. The book contains an appendix which compares the complete text of Jeremiah 32 (39 in Greek) in Greek and Hebrew, a bibliography of sources and resources, commentaries, monographs and articles, an index of variants, references, and authors.


Daniel M. Gurtner

Daniel M. Gurtner completed his PhD at the University of St. Andrews and has written extensively on the Gospel of Matthew and Second Temple Judaism. He is the author of The Torn Veil: Matthew’s Exposition of the Death of Jesus and co-editor of the award-winning T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism.