The Rationale for the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint

Recent discussions in Septuagint scholarship have highlighted the distinction between the meaning of a text at its point of inception, or the text as produced, and its reception history, or the text as received. The forthcoming Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint (SBLCS) will seek to elucidate the meaning of the Old Greek version of the Jewish Scriptures at the original, constitutive phase of its composition. This essay provides an overview of the principles upon which the SBLCS series is based.