Editing the Septuagint: The Unfinished Task

The Greek Old Testament, commonly known as Septuagint, has its origins in Ptolemaic Egypt. Egypt developed into a strongly bilingual country, and in the fourth century CE, when Christianity was on firmer ground in Egypt, the Septuagint was translated into Coptic. The intertwined and prolific relation between the Greek and the Coptic Old Testament is now aptly reflected also in the joint ventures of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Since the 19th century, Göttingen was and is the global center of Septuagint research. In 2015, a new Academy project started, which deals with the translation of the Septuagint into Coptic-Sahidic: Digitale Gesamtedition und Übersetzung des koptisch-sahidischen Alten Testaments. Finally, in 2020, the new long-term project Die Editio critica maior des griechischen Psalters started at the Göttingen Academy. Both projects work closely together, and the present volume is one of the results of this fruitful collaboration.

Anneli Aejmelaeus ist Professorin für Altes Testament und vorderasiatische Kultur und Literatur an der Universität Helsinki.

In the fourth century CE the Septuagint was translated into Coptic. The intertwined and prolific relation between the Greek and the Coptic Old Testament is now aptly reflected also in the joint ventures of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities.