| The Masoretic and Septuagint traditions of the book of Zephaniah differ from each other in several places, both linguistically and structurally. The aim of this dissertation is to probe these two textual traditions of Zephaniah in order to present the differences between them descriptively, not prescriptively, and to read them in their larger literary contexts. The intent is not to establish one critical edition that disparages one tradition for the other but rather to discern how such differences yield the message of Zephaniah in the two distinct, though related, traditions, respecting the uniqueness each brings to the meaning of the book. This textual-rhetorical analysis is carried out in two steps.; The first step is an analysis of MT Zephaniah as preserved in the Tiberian witness of the Aleppo Codex. A text-critical analysis focuses on matters of grammar, syntax, and semantics, noting also the significantly different readings in the Leningrad Codex and the Cairo Codex of the Prophets, as well as in the pre-Masoretic texts of Zephaniah from the Judean Desert: 4QXII b, 4QXIIc, (2)MurXII (=Mur88). A rhetorical analysis of MT Zephaniah is then offered, borrowing salient features from the methodology of rhetorical criticism of the Hebrew Bible. The rhetorical analysis is not a thorough one but a supplement to the text-critical analysis that seeks to understand how the overall design of the book and its individual parts work together to convey its meaning and to read "uncertain" readings of the MT in their literary contexts.; The second step focuses on LXX Zephaniah, especially as it compares and contrasts with MT Zephaniah. This step involves a text-critical analysis and a rhetorical analysis of LXX Zephaniah, using the Gottingen critical edition as the text base. Significantly different readings in the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nah&dotbelow;al H&dotbelow;ever (8H&dotbelow;evXIIgr) are also noted. |
