Hexaplaric Variants to the Books of Job, Proverbs, and Canticum

Abstract This article offers an inaugural analysis of the Septuagint manuscript Rahlfs 516 (Codex Athous Lavra 149), a codex of the libri sapientiales from the second half of the tenth century, previously misdated and overlooked in Septuagint editions. The manuscript contains five Wisdom books of the Septuagint: Job, Sirach, a prologue to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticum. This manuscript, distinguished for its Hexaplaric readings in Job and its extensive parallels with Ra 248 and Ra 161, presents attributions to the Jewish revisers Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. The analysis of this manuscript reveals interesting variants and a novel Symmachus reading in Job 1:6c, as well as a Symmachus attestation in Job 1:16b and a new Hexaplaric reading for Job 15:21b. This study accentuates the imperative of integrating Ra 516 into scholarly discourse and shows its significance for future research.