REFLECTIONS ON THE ‘INTERLINEAR PARADIGM’ IN SEPTUAGINTAL STUDIES* Jan Joosten Septuagint scholars have been much exercised by the need to set the object of their investigations in a wider context. What was the original function of the Septuagint? What were the needs that called forth its creation? Several hypotheses have been proposed in answer to these questions. In recent years, a new ‘paradigm’ of Septuagintal origins has spread like wildfire, particularly in North America, but also, to some extent, in Europe and elsewhere. The intention of the present paper is to take stock, to evaluate some of the main foundations of this new hypothesis, and to weigh it against earlier approaches. Hypotheses of Septuagintal Origins There is no dearth of global views on the Greek version, attempting to retrace its original background in the host culture. At least four distinct ‘paradigms’ have been developed to account for the emergence of the Greek version or part of it. 1 The earliest explanation of the Septuagint’s raison d’être is, of course, that of the Letter of Aristeas, which remained uncontested from antiquity until the renaissance. The translation of the Torah is attrib- uted here to the initiative of the Ptolemaic King who commissioned a Greek version of the Jewish law in order to give it a place in his library. In recent times, several Septuagint scholars in effect returned to this view. 2 They point to the historical interest of early Hellenistic * It is at once an honour and a pleasure to dedicate this article to Raija Sollamo whose dedication, professionalism and good humour have always been an example to me. 1 See the recent review by Gilles Dorival, “La traduction de la Torah en grec,” in La Bible des Septante: Le Pentateuque d’Alexandrie: Texte grec et traduction (ouvrage collectif sous la direction de Cécile Dogniez et Marguerite Harl; Paris: Cerf, 2001), 31–41. Dorival does not discuss the interlinear paradigm, even although he includes in his bibliography the study of Arie van der Kooij referred to below in note 9. 2 See, e.g., Aryeh Kasher, The Jews in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt: The Struggle for Equal Rights (TSAJ 7; Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1985), 5–6; Nina Collins, The Library in Alexandria and the Bible in Greek (VTSup 82; Leiden: Brill, 2000); Sylvie VOITILLA_f11-163-178.indd 163 VOITILLA_f11-163-178.indd 163 11/14/2007 9:36:48 PM 11/14/2007 9:36:48 PM