The International Organization for
Septuagint and Cognate Studies

News and Announcements

A statement from the IOSCS executive to all members concerning James 'Jim' Aitken

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. James Aitken, Professor of Hebrew and Early Jewish Studies at the University of Cambridge. Members of the IOSCS also knew him as an active scholar within the discipline of Septuagint Studies, a member of the executive committee, and a regular participant at IOSCS conferences. Among his many important publications are No Stone Unturned: Greek Inscriptions and Septuagint Vocabulary (Eisenbrauns, 2014) and, as editor, The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint (2015). He also delivered the 2021-22 Grinfield Lectures at the University of Oxford on the topics, “The Septuagint and Scribal Creativity in Egypt,” “The Septuagint—A Translation Among Translations,” and “The Septuagint, Editing, and Textual Production in Ancient Judaism.” These contributions to scholarship were indicative of his keen interest in the language, exegesis, and place within Second Temple Jewish society of the Greek version of the Jewish Scriptures. But more than an outstanding scholar, Jim was also a good friend to many, someone who gave generously of his time and his wisdom to both colleagues and students alike. He will be sorely missed.

Rob Hiebert and Alison Salvesen, on behalf of the IOSCS Executive Committee

2022 John W. Wevers Annual Prize in Septuagint Studies

The IOSCS is pleased to announce that the 2022 John W. Wevers prize for an outstanding paper in LXX studies goes to Kyle Young for his paper "Aquila's Secunda Editio: Evaluating the Appropriation and Evolution of a Concept." Kyle Young (BA, MAR, MA, Grad. Dipl.) is PhD Candidate in Ancient Judaism, Trinity College Dublin working under the supervision of Dr. David Shepherd. We congratulate Kyle for this achievement.

Call for Papers: IOSCS Sessions at the SBL in San Antonio (Nov 18-21, 2023)

The IOSCS will organize sessions (and hold a business meeting) in San Antonio in conjunction with the annual meeting of the SBL (Nov 18-21, 2023). Paper proposals are welcome and can be submitted here. The deadline for proposing papers is March 14.

It is not necessary to be an SBL member to participate and present in the IOSCS sessions. We do expect the presenters to be IOSCS members. Please direct any queries to Reinhart Ceulemans.

2023 Summer Course at Trinity Western University

The Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western University and the John William Wevers Institute for Septuagint Studies are pleased to co-sponsor a three-credit course entitled “Josephus and the Septuagint.” The course will be taught by Dr. Andrew Krause and class sessions will be live-streamed via Zoom during the week of June 5-9, 2023. The course can be audited or taken for credit. See the flyer (PDF). Feel free to spread the word far and wide.

Grinfield Lectures on the Septuagint 2023–24

A new series of the Grinfield Lectures has been announced for February 2023. Prof. Sébastian Morlet, Professor of Greek language and literature at Sorbonne Université, is giving three lectures on the theme, "The plurality of the biblical text - past and present". See the poster here.

Thanks to Jay Treat

On behalf of the IOSCS executive committee, I would like to express sincere thanks to Jay Treat for the many years that he has served as the IOSCS webmaster. The IOSCS web page has functioned very well as the public online face of our organization, providing information regarding conferences, projects, and membership application or renewal, furnishing access to back issues of our Bulletin/Journal, and serving as a hub for links to other sites of interest pertaining to our discipline. Jay’s connection with the University of Pennsylvania has afforded us access to that institutional server, but now that he has retired it is necessary for us to make a move. Many thanks, Jay, for all that you have done!

Rob Hiebert, IOSCS President

Visit Us on Facebook

IOSCS has a Facebook Group Page. Visit for periodic announcements and posts of interest.

2022 Septuagint International Congress in Stellenbosch

The second Septuagint international congress will take place from the 30^th of September through to the 2^nd of October 2022 at the Department of Ancient Studies, University of Stellenbosch. It is organised by Johann Cook, Martin Roesel and Wolfgang Kraus, who have invited over 20 speakers to address aspects of a theology of the Septuagint. It will be presented in a hybrid format so that more people can attend and participate. If you have any questions, email Johann Cook. For more information, see the program (PDF).

Summer Course at Trinity Western University

The Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western University and the John William Wevers Institute for Septuagint Studies are pleased to co-sponsor a three-credit course entitled “Exploring the Septuagint Pentateuch.” Class sessions will be live-streamed via Zoom by Fellows of the Wevers Institute during the week of May 16-20, 2022. The course can be audited or taken for credit. See the flyer (PDF) and syllabus (PDF). Feel free to spread the word far and wide.

Grinfield Lectures on the Septuagint 2021–22

The second series of the Grinfield Lectures have begun (February 2022). James K. Aitken, Professor of Hebrew and Early Jewish Studies at the University of Cambridge, is giving three lectures on the theme, "The Septuagint and the History of the Book". See current details and the event flyer.

IOSCS Congress in Zurich

The next IOSCS congress will take place on Aug. 5-7, 2022 in Zurich, right before the IOSOT Congress (8-12). The call for papers is now out and can be accessed here: https://www.iosot2022.uzh.ch/en/ioscs2022.html

The main theme will be 'The Septuagint and Literary Culture,' encompassing questions of history, textual and literary development, cultural context, and (history of) interpretation.

Questions concerning the IOSCS congress can be sent to Alison Salvesen (alison.salvesen@orinst.ox.ac.uk) or Marieke Dhont (md790@cam.ac.uk).

2022 SBL International Meeting in Salzburg

The 2022 SBL International Meeting will be held in beautiful Salzburg, Austria on July 17-21). Several IOSCS members are involved including Kristin De Troyer, who is organizing the meeting, and Tuukka Kauhanen, chair of the Septuagint Studies program unit.

This year, there will be two thematic joint sessions:

1. The first held in conjunction with the "Qumran and Dead Sea Scrolls" unit will revisit the contributions of the Qumran biblical scrolls to the understanding of the Septuagint both as a textual witness to the Hebrew Bible and a historical document in its own right.
2. "Textual criticism: revisions and recensions" will focus on the well-known recensions of the Septuagint (Kaige, Hexaplaric, Lucianic/Antiochian) or other revisional activity concerning the Greek Bible.

Details concerning the call for papers can be found here. The deadline for submissions was February 1, 2022.

2021 John W. Wevers Annual Prize in Septuagint Studies

The IOSCS is pleased to announce that the 2021 John W. Wevers prize for an outstanding paper in LXX studies goes to Maximilian Häberlein for his paper “‘Superfluous Lines?’ Minuses of OG Job in the Context of Alexandrian Scholarship.” Maximilian is a PhD student at the University of Würzburg working under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Barbara Schmitz. We congratulate Maximilian for this achievement.

Wevers Institute YouTube Channel

The John William Wevers Institute for Septuagint Studies now has a YouTube channel. People can subscribe to it and be automatically notified when new content is made available.

Septuaginta: A Reader’s Edition Published

A new reader’s edition of the Septuagint became available in November 2019. Edited by William Ross and Gregory Lanier, it includes the entire Septuagint (the text is that of Rahlfs-Hanhart). To facilitate reading, each page is annotated with lexical information. More information is available from Christian Books.

La Biblia griega, Spanish Translation

Ediciones Sígueme of Salamanca has published the final volume of their Spanish translation of the Septuagint: La Biblia griega. Septuaginta. IV. Libros proféticos (Salamanca: Sígueme 2015).

Latest Göttingen Editions

The Göttingen edition of the Psalms of Solomon, edited by F. Albrecht, was published in 2018, and the Göttingen edition of Ecclesiastes, edited by P. Gentry, in 2019. An additional volume on the Psalms of Solomon (Greek text, German translation and commentary) was published in 2020, and the Textual History of Ecclesiastes will be published in 2022. Several other volumes are in preparation (see the Report on the Göttingen Septuagint).

Resources from Göttingen

In 2020, a new long-term Academy project was established: “Die Editio critica maior des griechischen Psalters” (Academy of Sciences and Humanities Göttingen). This project, which is dedicated to the edition of the Greek Psalter (Psalms and Odes), has launched a new platform for the “Göttinger Septuaginta“, on which all resources of the former Göttinger Septuaginta-Unternehmen (1908—2015), including the Rahlfs catalogue of LXX manuscripts, will be made available within the upcoming years.

Septuaginta Deutsch Commentary Published

The German Bible Society has published Septuaginta Deutsch’s commentary on the Septuagint. See 2011 press release. The Commentary is currently available only as a digital download (PDF).

Septuaginta Deutsch. Erläuterungen und Kommentare zum griechischen Alten Testament, vol. I and vol. II, ed. by Martin Karrer and Wolfgang Kraus (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2011).

More News and Announcements

For previous news and announcements, please consult our news archive.