Genesis 1-11 und Platos Symposion Überlegungen zum Austausch von hebräischem und griechischem Sprach- und Gedankengut in der Klassik und im Hellenismus

Abstract

Plato's teachings have never lost their dominance in the intellectual scene or the general education system of the Hellenistic world. Therefore one cannot seriously dispute the encounter of the Old Testamental thoughts with Plato's thoughts. The crucial question is: Did the Septuagint (LXX) manage to absorb linguistic forms from Plato's work without at the same time absording basic Platonic, philosophical concepts? The LXX translators wanted to proclaim the Old Testament belief to the Hellenistic world via the Greek language. At the same time they wanted to prevent that polytheistic concepts were introduced into the world of the Old Testament via the language. The LXX has thus adopted the refined forms of expression of Plato's work, which represents the first and only completely handed-down philosophic work of the antique Greeks, and changed them as necessary. The Platonic linguistic forms in the LXX can be seen as a type of Old Testamental meta-language of great theological importance. This meta-language was created due to philosophic reflection about linguistic and mental constructs of the Old Testament.