Symmachus uses the lexeme συσφιγκτήρ in his translation of Psalm 44[45]:14.1 The relevant passage reads as follows in the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text:2
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LXX Ps 44:14a–b, ed. A. Rahlfs |
MT Ps 45:14a–b, ed. H. Bardtke (BHS) |
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aπᾶσα ἡ δόξα αὐτῆς θυγατρὸς βασιλέως ἔσωθεν bἐν κροσσωτοῖς χρυσοῖς περιβεβλημένη πεποικιλμένη |
כָּל־כְּבוּדָּ֣ה בַת־מֶ֣לֶךְ פְּנִ֑ימָה מִֽמִּשְׁבְּצ֖וֹת זָהָ֣ב לְבוּשָֽׁהּ׃ |
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English translation by NETS: |
English translation by RJPS: |
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Of a king’s daughter—all her glory is within, decked out with golden tassels, in many colors. |
goods of all sorts. |
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German translation by LXX.D: |
German translation by Elberfelder: |
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All ihre Herrlichkeit als Tochter des Königs (kommt) von innen, mit goldenen Fransen(kleidern) ist sie umhüllt, bunt geschmückt. |
Ganz herrlich ist die Königstochter drinnen, von Goldgewebe ihr Gewand; |
1. Hexaplaric Evidence for συσφιγκτήρ (σ' Ps 44:14b)
The Göttingen Hexapla Database, which is in its Beta version, gives the following information for Psalm 44[45]:14:
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LXX Ps 44:14b |
MT Ps 45:14b |
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LXX |
MT |
α' |
σ' |
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ἐν κροσσωτοῖς |
מִמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת |
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διὰ συσφιγκτήρων Field |
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χρυσοῖς |
זָהָב |
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χρυσῶν Field |
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περιβεβλημένη |
לְבוּשָׁהּ׃ |
ἔνδυσις αὐτῆς Field |
ἠμφιεσμένη Field |
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πεποικιλμένη. |
לִרְקָמוֹת |
εἰς ποικιλτά Field |
ποικίλα Field |
1.1. MT
The Masoretic Text has the phrase מִמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת, which consists of the plural word מִשְׁבְּצוֹת (hypothetical singular form: מִשְׁבְּצָה) with a prefixed מִן preposition. This word occurs a total of nine times in the Hebrew Bible, only in the plural and, with the exception of Psalm 45:14, only in the the book of Exodus (Exod 28:11, 13, 14, 25; 39:6, 13, 16, 18), where it describes an element of the high priest’s sacred clothes.3 Exodus 28:11, for example, reads as follows (BHS, RJPS):
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מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה חָרַשׁ֮ אֶבֶן֒ פִּתּוּחֵ֣י חֹתָ֗ם תְּפַתַּח֙ אֶת־שְׁתֵּ֣י הָאֲבָנִ֔ים עַל־שְׁמֹ֖ת בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מֻסַבֹּ֛ת מִשְׁבְּצ֥וֹת זָהָ֖ב תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה אֹתָֽם |
On the two stones you shall make seal engravings —the work of a lapidary— of the names of the sons of Israel. Having bordered them with frames of gold, |
Where the RJPS translation has “frames of gold,” other translations have “settings of gold filigree” (NRSVue, ESV, NLT; cf. NIV, CSB, NET) or “gold rosettes” (NEB, REB).4
Josephus explains that the מִשְׁבְּצוֹת in Exodus had a securing function, being related to the “pins” or “brooches” (ταῖς περονίσιν) that buckled the ephod (Greek: epomis) to the shoulders (Jewish Antiquities 3.165):5
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πορποῦσι δὲ τὴν ἐπωμίδα σαρδόνυχες δύο κατὰ τῶν ὤμων, ἑκάτερον τέλος ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἐπιθέονχρύσεον ἔχοντες πρὸς τὸ ταῖς περονίσινἐπιτήδειον εἶναι. |
The epomis is buckled on to the shoulders by two sardonyxes, fitted on this side and that with golden extremities extending over the shoulders and serving to hold the pins. |
Some of the ancient Greek translators highlighted the securing function of the מִשְׁבְּצוֹת in their translations of the word in Exodus 28:11. For example, Aquila and Symmachus translate it as ἐσφιγμένους and συνεσφιγμένους respectively (“tightly bound, held tightly together”).6 The Septuagint – not in this verse, but elsewhere in Exodus (see below) – typically translates מִשְׁבְּצוֹת with the lexeme ἀποδίσκη, which can refer to “part of a brooch.”7 The following chart shows how the ancient Greek translators rendered the word מִשְׁבְּצוֹת throughout the Bible.
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מִשְׁבְּצוֹת |
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Exod 28:11 |
מִשְׁבְּצוֹת זָהָב |
συνεσφραγισμένους… (θ')8 συνεσφραγισμένους χρυσίῳ (LXX mss)9 συνεσφιγμένους χρυσίῳ (σ')10 ἐσφιγμένους… (α')11 |
ἀσπιδίσκη
κροσσωτός
περισιαλόομαι
συσφραγίζω
σφίγγω συσφίγγω σφιγκτήρ συσφιγκτήρ συσφιγκτός |
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Exod 28:13 |
מִשְׁבְּצֹת זָהָב |
ἀσπιδίσκας ἐκ χρυσίου καθαροῦ (LXX)12 σφιγκτῆρας… (α')13 |
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Exod 28:14 |
הַמִּשְׁבְּצֹת |
τὰς ἀσπιδίσκας (LXX)14 σφιγκτῆρας (<α'>)15 σύσφιγκτα (σ')16 |
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Exod 28:25 |
הַמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת |
τῶν… συσφίγκτων (LXX mss)17 σφιγκτή[ρων] (α')18 |
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Exod 39[36]:6[13] |
מִשְׁבְּצֹת זָהָב |
περισεσιαλωμένους χρυσίῳ (LXX)19 συνεσφιγμένους… (οἱ λ')20 |
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Exod 39[36]:13[20] |
מִשְׁבְּצוֹת זָהָב |
– (LXX)21 |
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Exod 39[36]:16[23] |
מִשְׁבְּצֹת זָהָב |
ἀσπιδίσκας χρυσᾶς (LXX)22 σφιγκτῆρας… (α')23 |
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Exod 39[36]:18[26] |
הַֽמִּשְׁבְּצֹת |
τὰς… ἀσπιδίσκας (LXX)24 |
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Ps 45[44]:14 |
מִמִּשְׁבְּצֹות |
ἐν κροσσωτοῖς (LXX) διὰ συσφιγκτήρων (σ') |
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1.2. LXX
The Septuagint renders the phrase מִמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת with the Greek phrase ἐν κροσσωτοῖς. Muraoka defines the adjective κροσσωτός as “tasseled,” and he notes that it can function as a substantive: “tasseled part of a garment.”25 He translates the Psalm 44[45]:14b as “wearing a robe decorated with golden tassels and embroidered.”26
1.3. Symmachus
Among the Hexaplaric translations of מִמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת, only the translation of Symmachus is preserved. According to the Database, Symmachus reads διὰ συσφιγκτήρων. The Database, in its Beta version, has drawn this reading from Field’s edition of the Hexapla.27 Field presents Symmachus’ reading as follows: “διὰ συσφιγτήρων χρυσῶν ἠμφιεσμένηποικίλα.”28 He then notes the sources for his reading: “Syro-hex. ܣ. ܟܕ ܒܝܕ ܚ̈ܨܐ ܕܕܗܒܐ ܠܒܝܫܐ ܦܬܝ̈ܟܬܐ. Chrysost. affert: Ἄλλος· διὰ συσφιγκτήρων κ.τ.ἑ. Bar Hebr. eadem Syriaca affert, sed minus probabiliter Aquilae tribuit. (Pro ܚ̈ܨܐ Cod. C. ܚܝ̈ܨܐ exhibet. Vid. Burgat. in Annot. ad loc.).”29 Field thus notes three sources for the reading: (1) Chrysostom, (2) the Syro-Hexapla, and (3) Bar Hebraeus. The following section discusses each of these sources.
2. Manuscript Attestation and Patristic Evidence (σ' Ps 44:14b)
2.1. Chrysostom
Chrysostom cites the reading in question anonymously (ἄλλος), as is his normal practice. The relevant passage reads as follows according to the Göttingen preliminary edition (Chr. 44.918–921).30 The English translation is by Robert Hill.31
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«Ἐν κροσσωτοῖς χρυσοῖς περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη.» Ἄλλος, «Διὰ συσφιγκτήρωνχρυσῶν ἠμφιεσμένη ποικίλα·» πάλιν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ χρυσίου τὴν ἀρετὴν καλέσας. |
Clad in golden tassels, colorfully attired; another version, “In colorful clothing with golden binding” – referring again to virtue through the term golden. |
The reading συσφιγκτήρων can be seen, for example in Ra 9105, Ra 9106, and Ra 9107:

Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 525 (Ra 9105), f. 183v

Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Z.111 (Ra 9106), f. 81v

Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Z.562 (Ra 9107), f. 112r
The manuscript tradition does not uniformly support this reading, however. Ra 9100 reads συσφηκτήρων, while Ra 9101 reads σφηκτήρων:

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Grec 654 (Ra 9100), f. 173r
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Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Grec 655 (Ra 9101), f. 42v
Thus, three different forms are attested:
- συσφιγκτήρων (Ra 9105, Ra 9106, Ra 9107)
- συσφηκτήρων (Ra 9100)
- σφηκτήρων (Ra 9101)
The reading συσφιγκτήρων is likely the earliest of these three readings. Not only does this reading have the broadest manuscript support, but it also closely matches the related forms that Symmachus and Aquila use in Exodus to translate מִשְׁבְּצוֹת (see the chart above). The variant reading συσφηκτήρων (Ra 9100) differs only in spelling.32 The other variant reading, σφηκτήρων (Ra 9101), reflects the same differences in spelling with the additional loss of the prefix συ-, probably due to haplography.
2.2. Syro-Hexapla
The Syro-Hexapla attributes the following reading to Symmachus (ܣ):ܟܕ ܒܝܕ ܚ̈ܨܐ ܕܕܗܒܐ ܠܒܝܫܐ ܦܬܝ̈ܟܬܐ. This reading appears as follows in the margin of Codex Ambrosianus C. 313 Inf.33
Codex Ambrosianus C. 313 Inf. (Syro-Hexapla), f. 16r
Field claims that the Greek text underlying this reading is identical to the “other version” (ἄλλος) mentioned by Chrysostom – διὰ συσφιγκτήρων χρυσῶν ἠμφιεσμένη ποικίλα – which would mean that this anonymous Greek reading belongs to Symmachus.34 This identification is likely, given the following correspondences:
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ܒܝܕ |
διὰ |
by means of |
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ܚ̈ܨܐ |
συσφιγκτήρων |
? |
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ܕܕܗܒܐ |
χρυσῶν |
golden |
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ܟܕ ... ܠܒܝܫܐ |
ἠμφιεσμένη |
clothed |
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ܦܬܝ̈ܟܬܐ |
ποικίλα |
many colored [garments] |
The only uncertain correspondence is between συσφιγκτήρων and ܚ̈ܨܐ. The Syriac term means “loins,” which would not only be an inexplicable equivalent of συσφιγκτήρων (see below on this word) but would also be nonsensical in the context (“golden loins”?).35 However, the word ܚ̈ܨܐ is undoubtedly a scribal error for ܚܝ̈ܨܐ, a lexeme that describes a “device for clamping together.”36 Indeed, Field notes that the eighth-century Syro-Hexaplaric manuscript “C” (London, British Library, Add. Ms. 14434) reads ܚܝ̈ܨܐ instead of ܚ̈ܨܐ.37 Thus, the Syro-Hexapla reading can be equated with the anonymous reading in Chrysostom, which, in turn, can be attributed to Symmachus.
2.3. Bar Hebraeus
The Scholia of Bar Hebraeus on the Book of Psalms…
2.4. Refined Representation of Hexaplaric Evidence (σ' Ps 44:14b)
A refined representation of the reading in question and its attestation looks like this:
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LXX Ps 44:14b |
MT Ps 45:14b |
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LXX |
MT |
σ' |
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ἐν κροσσωτοῖς |
מִמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת |
διὰ συσφιγκτήρων (Chrysostom s.n. [Ra 9105, Ra 9106, Ra 9107; συσφηκτήρων Ra 9100; σφηκτήρων Ra 9101]; cf. Syh: ܚܝ̈ܨܐ [BL Add Ms 14434; ܚ̈ܨܐCodex Ambrosianus C. 313 Inf.]) |
3. Analysis of σ' συσφιγκτήρ in Ps 44:14b
The word συσφιγκτήρων in Psalm 44:14b is a masculine genitive plural noun that functions as the object of the preposition διά. The lexical form is συσφιγκτήρ, a hapax legomenon in all surviving Greek literature, which the consulted lexica analyze as follows:
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Biel and Mutzenbecher, Thesaurus III (1780), 400 |
Συσφιγκτὴρ, vestis constringens corpus, q. d. constrictorium. משבצע [sic] ocellatio, Al. Ps. XLIV, 15 [sic]. συσφιγκτήρων. |
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Schleusner, Thesaurus III (1829 [London edn]), 210 |
ΣΥΣΦΙΓΚΤΗ`Ρ, vestis constringens corpus, quod dicitur constrictorium. מִשְׁבְצוֹת plur. fœm. vestes oscellatœ. Al. Psalm. XLIV. 15 [sic]. |
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Stephanus, Thesaurus VII (1865), 1558 |
Συσφιγκτὴρ, ῆρος, ὁ, Vestis constringens corpus, Ps. 44, 13. « Fibula. Jo. Chrys. In Ps. 44, vol. 1, p. 646, 17 : Διὰσυσφιγκτήρων χρυσῶν ἠμφιεσμένη ποικίλα. » Seager |
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Dimitriakos, Λεξικόν XIV (1936–1950), 7022 |
συσφιγκτήρ-ῆρος, |ὁ| μτγν. κ. νεώτ. σφικτὴρ βλ.λ.31. στενὸν καὶτὸ σῶμα συσφίγγον ἔνδυμα: Σύμμ.ΠΔ Ψαλμ.44|45|,18, Ἰω.Χρυσ.1,646,17· 2) νεώτ. πᾶν τὸ δι᾽ οὗ συσφίγγεται, περισφίγγεταί τι. |
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Liddell and Scott, Lexicon (1996), 1737 |
συσφιγκτήρ, ῆρος, ὁ, = σφιγκτήρ iii, Sm.Ps.44(45).14 |
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Montanari, Dictionary (2015), 2064 |
συσφιγκτήρ, -ῆρος, ἡ [συσφίγγω] VT (Sym.) Ps. 44.14 see σφιγκτήρ. |
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Montanari, Wörterbuch (2023), 1942 |
συσφιγκτήρ, -ῆρος, ἡ [συσφίγγω] VT. (Sym.) Ps. 44.14, s. σφιγκτήρ. |
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Bailly – Hugo-Chávez, Dictionnaire (2020), 2220 |
συσφιγκτήρ, ῆρος (ὁ) vêtement étroit, Spt. Ps. 44, 13 (συσφίγγω). |
Those lexica which provide a definition generally agree that the plural of συσφιγκτήρ in Psalm 44[45]:14 describes “tight-fitting/constricting clothing” (Biel and Mutzenbecher, Schleusner, Stephanus, Dimitriakos, Bailly – Hugo Chávez 2020). Similarly, Driver says that “the συσφιγκτήρ was apparently a tight-laced χιτών.”38 It will be argued below, however, that this definition is probably inaccurate.
Despite its technical status as a hapax, the form συσφιγκτήρ is not unusual, and its basic sense is transparent from its component parts. The word συσφιγκτήρ consists of the following three elements: (1) root σφιγγ-, (2) prefixed preposition συν-, (3) derivational suffix -τήρ, which “forms masculine agent nouns.”39 Thus, if the verb σφίγγω means “to bind tightly fasten” – and the roughly synonymous verb συσφίγγω means “bind together” – then one would expect the agentive noun συσφιγκτήρ to describe “that which tightly binds/fastens together” (cf. Syh: ܚܝ̈ܨܐ).40 Indeed, the noun σφιγκτήρ (without the συν- prefix) describes “that which fastens or closes,” and it can refer specifically, for example, to a “band, ribbon, for hair.”41 Aquila uses this noun several times in Exodus (Exod 28:13, 14, 25; 39[36]:16[23]) to translate מִּשְׁבְּצֹת.
The basic definition of the word as “that which fastens together” fits the context of Symmachus’ translation of Psalm 45[44]:14. Fortunately, although the surrounding lines are no longer extant, the full sentence in which the word occurs has been preserved:
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Διὰ συσφιγκτήρων χρυσῶν ἠμφιεσμένη ποικίλα· |
By means of golden clasps, [she is] clothed in many-colored [clothes]. |
It should be clear from the syntactic co-text that the word does not refer to clothing for at least two reasons. First, the sentence already has a word for “clothing,” i.e., ποικίλα (= ἱμάτια ποικίλα).42 Second, the word in question, συσφιγκτήρων, is the object of the preposition διά, which expresses means or instrumentality and would not be an appropriate way to indicate the object which is worn as clothing. Generally, the verb ἀμφιέννυμι – whether active, middle, or passive – is accompanied by an accusative object to indicate the clothing that is worn (Liddell and Scott: “acc… rei”), not with a διά prepositional phrase. It is likely, therefore, that the συσφιγκτήρες in this passage refer to items that secureor fasten the clothing to the body rather than to the clothing itself.43 Thus, the suggestion of Seager, cited in Stephanus’ Thesaurus, seems a more likely interpretation of the noun συσφιγκτήρ: fibula, i.e., “the ancient safety pin.”44

Roman-era golden fibula
The Met, Object 95.15.113 (Public Domain)
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/245923
Rather than use a technical term for a dress fastener, however, Symmachus uses the word συσφιγκτήρ, which highlights the fastening function of the item in question.45 His choice of this particular word was no doubt influenced by his understanding of the Hebrew word מ ִ שְׁבְּצוֹת, which he elsewhere translates using words from the σφιγγ- word group (see chart above). The English words “clasp” or “fastener” would be accurate English glosses for συσφιγκτήρ in this context.46
- ^ José Ramón Busto Saiz, La Traducción de Símaco en el Libro de Los Salmos, Textos y Estudios Cardenal Cisneros 22 (Madrid: Instituto Arias Montano, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1978), 588, presents the form asσυσφιγτήρ (without a kappa). The correct form, however, is συσφιγκτήρ (with a kappa; see below on Chrysostom).
- ^ The Septuagint and the Masoretic Text divide v. 14 differently. In the Masoretic Text, the last word of the verse is לְבוּשָׁהּ(= περιβεβλημένη), while, in the Septuagint, the last word is πεποικιλμένη (= לִרְקָמֹות, the first word of v. 15 in the MT). Konrad Kremser, “Syntactic Questions Regarding Psalm 44[45]. Does Greek Colometry Make More Sense than Hebrew?,” in The Septuagint: Multilateral Focus on the Text, ed. Helena Panczová (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2024), 227–37, argues that the Septuagint preserves the earlier verse division. Because the division is not crucial to understanding the word συσφιγκτήρ in Symmachus’ translation, it is not discussed in this article.
- ^ Abraham Even-Shoshan, ed., קונקורדנציה חדשׁה לתורה נביאים וכתובים, 4th edn (Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sefer, 1983), 714.
- ^ Cf. William Propp, Exodus 19-40: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Yale Bible (New York: Doubleday, 2006), 437, who suggests it describes “a circlet of twined gold wire.” Wilhelm Gesenius, Hebräisches und Aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, ed. Herbert Donner, 18th edn (Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, 2013), 749, glosses it as “Goldfassungen v. Edelsteinen.” The Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew defines it as “a web of gold yarn used to attach gems to cloth.” Reinier de Blois, “מִשְׁבְּצוֹת,” in The Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, ed. Reinier de Blois. In Psalm 45[44]:14, some Hebrew lexica suggest a distinct sense for the word, e.g., “gold embroidered cloth, brocade.” So Ludwig Köhler/Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, trans. M.E.J. Richardson (Leiden: Brill, 1994–2000), 642; cf. Gesenius, Handwörterbuch, 749: “Gold(fäden) durchwirkten Stoffen.”
- ^ The English translation is by H. St. J. Thackeray (Loeb edition). See the alternative translation in Joabson Xavier Pena, “Wearing the Cosmos: The High Priestly Attire in Josephus’ Judean Antiquities,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 52, no. 3 (February 2021): 359–87: “Two sardonyxes fasten the epomis with a clasp on the shoulders, having each a golden end extending over them, being useful for [holding] the pins.”
- ^ John William Wevers, ed., Exodus, Septuaginta. Vetus Testamentum Graecum II,1 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1991), 314.
- ^ Henry George Liddell/Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th edn, ed. Henry Stuart Jones (Oxford: Clarendon press, 1996), 259. LSJ notes a second century bce inscription, where the word ἀποδίσκη is collocated with the word πορπίον (cf. the verb πορποῦσι the the Josephus passage).
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 314.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 314. The Old Greek text does not include the phrase in question. The reading συνεσφραγισμένουςχρυσίῳ, which occurs in the O-text, along with other manuscripts and daughter versionsm appears to have come from Theodotion (added, perhaps, by Origen to the main text of the Tetrapla and marked with an asterisk).
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 314.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 314. Ra M (Paris, BN, Coislin 1) attributes the reading to both Aquila and Symmachus.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 315.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 315.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 315.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 315.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 315.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 318.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 318.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 401.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 401.
- ^ In the LXX (Wevers, Exodus, 403), the single word περικεκυκλωμένα appears to stand for the two Hebrew words מוּסַבֹּת מִשְׁבְּצוֹת.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 404.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 404. Ra M (Paris, BN, Coislin 1) attributes the reading to both Aquila and Symmachus.
- ^ Wevers, Exodus, 404.
- ^ Takamitsu Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Louvain: Peeters, 2009), 414.
- ^ Muraoka, Lexicon, 414.
- ^ Frederick Field, Origenis Hexaplorum quae supersunt, vol. 2 Job–Malachi (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1875), 164.
- ^ Field, Origenis Hexaplorum, 164.
- ^ Field, Origenis Hexaplorum, 164.
- ^ https://septuaginta.uni-goettingen.de/chrysostom/basetext/44/
- ^ St. John Chrysostom Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 1, trans. Robert C. Hill (Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1998), 282.
- ^ Benjamin Kantor, The Pronunciation of New Testament Greek: Judeo-Palestinian Greek Phonology and Orthography from Alexander to Islam (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2023), §7.1.1.2.III, notes several Byzantine inscriptions in which “the sequence γκ is written simply as κ.” Interchange between ι and η was also very common. See Kantor, Pronunciation, §8.3.1.1.V.
- ^ Antonio Maria Ceriani, ed., Codex Syro-Hexaplaris Ambrosianus photolithographice editus, vol. 7, Monumenta Sacra et Profana ex Codicibus Praesertim Bibliothecae Ambrosianae (Milan: Impensis Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, 1874).
- ^ Field, Origenis Hexaplorum, 164.
- ^ Carl Brockelmann, Lexicon syriacum (Göttingen: Typis expressit officina academica Dieterichiana, 1928), 250: “lumbus.”
- ^ See “ḥyṣ, ḥyṣˀ (ḥyāṣ, ḥyāṣā) v.n. chain; strenuousness” in the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon, https://cal.huc.edu/oneentry.php?lemma=xyc%20N&. As will be discussed below, this is the basic meaning of συσφιγκτήρ.
- ^ https://searcharchives.bl.uk/catalog/040-002086100.
- ^ G.R. Driver, “Technical Terms in the Pentateuch,” Die Welt des Orients 2, no. 3 (1956): 254–63, on p. 262.
- ^ Evert van Emde Boas et al., The Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), §23.30; cf. Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), §839.
- ^ See Franco Montanari, The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2015), 2064, 2068.
- ^ Montanari, Dictionary, 2068, citing Antipater of Sidon (2nd century bce; AP 6.206.3).
- ^ The syntactic function of the neuter plural adjective ποικίλα in this sentence is somewhat difficult to determine. It is probably a substantive (ποικίλα = ἱμάτια ποικίλα) that functions as the internal accusative for the participle ἠμφιεσμένη. Cf. Rev 19:13: καὶ περιβεβλημένος ἱμάτιον. It is also possible that ποικίλα in Symmachus’ translation belongs to the following stich, following the verse division of the Masoretic Text.
- ^ For an overview of fasteners (pins and fibulae) in ancient Greek and Near Eastern dress, see Cecilie Brøns, “Representation and Realities: Fibulas and Pins in Greek and Near Eastern Iconography,” in Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, ed. Mary Harlow and Marie-Louise Nosch, Ancient Textiles Series 19 (Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2015), 60–94. In these cultures, garments were generally “fastened by special ornaments, such as the fibula – the ancient safety pin – or regular straight pins” (Brøns, “Fibulas and Pins,” 60). Brøns notes two passages in Homer that mentions beautiful garments fastened by pins of gold: “In the Iliad (14, 178–180) Hera’s peploswrought by Athena Ergane was fastened by two gold pins… Another example is from the Odyssey (18, 292–294) where a peplos with two gold pins and six gold fibulas is to be given by Antinoos to Penelope” (62).
- ^ Brøns, “Fibulas and Pins,” 60.
- ^ According to Brøns, “Fibulas and Pins,” 60, “The ancient Greek terms for dress-fasteners are especially porpē (plur. porpai), peronē (plur. peronai) and peronis… However, it is important to keep in mind that these terms not necessarily were the only ones used to designate these items.” Interestingly, the Josephus passage discussed above (Jewish Antiquities 3.165) uses the verb πορπάω (cf. πόρπη) and the noun περόνη in relation to the מִשְׁבְּצוֹת in Exodus.
- ^ The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edn, edited by Catherine Soanes/Angus Stevenson/Sara Hawker (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 263, defines a “clasp” as “a device with interlocking parts, for fastening things together.”
