@Davïd While you're giving reading recommendations (as if this were a rare phenomenon)....I just finished reading this book (well, minus about 10 pages re. Sam-Kings at the end of the HB text criticism chapter that I haven't yet processed - will try again), which was remarkably helpful to explain some background I was missing. Should have done that a long time ago (er...6 months ago).

I'm looking for next steps (for LXX learning, apart from the languages themselves). There are a bunch recommended in there, but I don't know where to start. (I don't mind whatever anybody does with Hebrew/Greek because I can look it up if needed, but I don't read German.)

It may be good to read another introductory text for a different perspective if one is needed. (From what I can tell, the criticism leveled against her/them is mostly that they undervalue the LXX as a textual witness against the MT, but the authors' comments along those lines seem to be mostly about the LXX-Isaiah translator, whom they several times refer to as "struggling", but.... is that really disputed? Nobody’s blaming him...)

@Dan I am currently on OpenShift. Free web hosting. Using 1 of 3 basic gears (1 GB of storage per basic gear). The only thing I pay is the domain. +@Davïd

@Susan The other "intro" to read would be Jenny Dines’ The Septuagint - very readable, and a different perspective. Also worth ploughing through Swete's classic/standard intro (2nd Edn). It was "upated" by Jellicoe in 1968.

I know you know about Tov's stuff. :) A bit on the run now, but if you want more/different, do let me know! Barr's Typology of Literalism and Wevers's Text History of... are available as PDFs (+ much German!).

@PaulVargas Intriguing! Never heard of that one - will look forward to exploring when there's a bit of space for "play". :)

@Davïd Thanks, will take a look. I've noticed that the norm (in Biblical Studies? or Humanities at large?) seems to involve liberally quoting German, French, and Latin. I can usually get the gist of Latin, and sometimes French if I use my imagination, but not German. Strikes me as an odd combination of humility ("I shan’t translate this Great Author’s Words") and snobbery (“Everybody who’s Anybody knows German”).

The (apparently) requisite end of the introduction attributing all errors to oneself (doh!) is also obviously cultural thing, but similarly seems to me an odd mix of modesty and affectation.

Probably both seem normal to you. Amusing to me.

@PaulVargas I looked at OpenShift. I have at least ten domains so it wouldn't be free for me (I provide web design and hosting for some local nonprofits)

But that is a really good deal

I've still never understood the gears concept (or whatever other hosting providers call it)

I'm afraid of pay as you go plans haha

But it doesn't help that I routinely investigate cases of folks stealing AWS API keys to use people's resources for Bitcoin mining or malware hosting

@Susan just about every biblical studies Ph.D. program in the country requires French or German in addition to the biblical languages - it's sorta the state of affairs

Replace country with 'world'

And it used to be that most seminary students already had learned Greek and/or Latin prior to seminary

Increasingly Latin has fallen by the wayside in seminaries (outside of Roman Catholicism) and Greek is now taught in seminary (or during a summer intensive prior to the first semester)

This reflects a move away from liberal arts programs requiring or even teaching these languages in most colleges

@Susan then again, you probably already knew that. It was all new to me when I was in pre-seminary to learn that most Christians did not enforce much any kind of pre-seminary educational requirements

For the program I was in, competency gained from courses in Lutheran dogmatics, four semesters of Greek, three semesters of Hebrew, Old Testament, New Testament, basic ecclesiastical history, basic philosophy, and a public speaking course we're all required as prerequisites to seminary (and there was an entrance exam that had to passed in Greek, Lutheran theology, Old Testament, New Testament, and Hebrew)

And that was just for the M.Div

To do a Ph.D., you had to first do a S.T.M. (equivalent to a Th.M. in some seminaries) in which you had to learn German (think Luther), and then you had to learn French as well prior to admittance to a Ph.D.

Oh I forgot, a psychology course was also required as an undergrad (101)

And by that time you would be in at least 150,000 in debt

Which is what is so wrong with it

And it wasn't enough just to do the standard 3/4 semester sequence in French and German at a local college (to save money, because Concordia charges way too much per credit hour), you then had to take Theological German and Theological French to learn that particular vocabulary as well

End rant

@Davïd Great, thanks, will read. Any recommendations for intro to OT more generally? (or @Dan) It’s a broad topic, but I know they have classes (as Dan just mentioned), so surely people use some sort of a text. (Preferably incorporating Hebrew, but whatever.) My Bible knowledge is pretty spotty in that I’ve read bits of specialist literature and have some grasp on the languages (to a greater or lesser extent) but am liable to not know some basic things unless they were taught in the church.

And (Biblical) Hebrew poetry introduction. Need that. Even more preferably using Hebrew.

@Dan Not really, didn’t have any idea about that kind of requirements. Interesting.

@Dan Sheesh! I understand education=debt, but in a different context where it’s not so unreasonable.

@Dan I’d think you’d be better off doing more advanced studies in the biblical languages +/- other textually helpful ancient ones and letting others translate the modern(ish) stuff, but what do I know.