I have slowly been working my way through the Septuagint’s translation of the Psalms. One of the first things I noticed was the ubiquitous occurrence of “Εἰς τὸ τέλος” in the titles of the Psalms and the “Διάψαλμα” at strategic locations. After some research and finding out that there is some debate as to what these indicate I came to realize they are strangely reminiscent of the “Dal Segno”, “Al Coda” markings in music.
I am by no means a professional philologist nor have I studied Hebrew (and I am a not very good at reading music) but I have two theories as to what these two phrases may mean. The first theory is not based on music but more on punctuation.
Perhaps the “Εἰς τὸ τέλος” is meant to be attached to the previous Psalm (since it has been placed as part of the title) and thus signifies the end of the psalm (also it doesn’t occur on the first or second Psalm). While the “Διάψαλμα” may simply signify an interlude. (an over the top, jack black type of lyre solo perhaps?)
Perhaps the “Εἰς τὸ τέλος” is an “Al Coda” marker, meaning that when the player reaches the “Διάψαλμα” then one should recite the title of the song before playing the next verse.
Honestly though, I kind of like the first proposal but I am aware that that would go against a lot of scholarly work and a very long tradition that prefers to put the “Εἰς τὸ τέλος” at the beginning of the title, instead of at the end of the Psalm that came before it.
Some English translations translate it as “To the director” but that seems odd (what is being told to the director?) Nevertheless, for some reason the idea that “Εἰς τὸ τέλος” means “To the director” just seems off to me. Even if the underlying Hebrew does mean “to the director”, perhaps the Greek translator mean the Greek to reflect a more literal translation as in “to the end (of the composition)”…any thoughts???
You won’t be surprised that many solutions have been proposed. HALOT writes s.v. סֶ֫לָה:
[Meaning] obscure, possibly from Persian > salā > meaning song, sound of the strings; probably a technical term added later concerning the style of music or recitation; suggested meanings
סלל, raising the voice to, a higher pitch, to be read as סֹ֫לּוּ
Aquila and Jerome: to be understood as “always” (from נֶצַח?)
pause, from the Septuagint διάψαλμα interlude of instrumental music
siglum
a) abbreviation for סִימָן לִשְׁנוֹת הַקּוֹל sign to change the voice
b) [abbreviation] for סֹב לְמַעֲלָה הַשָּׁר "> da capo> "
In the Psalm 24 (23 in the Septuagint), for instance, סֶ֫לָה is met twice: at the end of verse 6 and at the of the psalm (only the first occurrence in LXX, though!).
there is contemporary discussion about this which I was able to unearth by doing a google search for
albert pietersma “Εἰς τὸ τέλος”
(google books is notorioulsy territorial, it may not work at your location)
There appears to be an eschatological reading of “Εἰς τὸ τέλος” being tossed around and Albert Pietersma has written more than one article in which he argues against the eschatological reading.
Against Rösel’s interpretation, Pietersma (2006a:43) maintains that τέλος as a
nominal in non-philosophical Classical and Hellenistic literature “means nothing more
often than ‘conclusion’ (natural or logical) and as an adverbial it means nothing more
frequently than ‘in conclusion’ or ‘completely/finally,’” with no eschatological nuance.
To what “conclusion” or “completely” refers is equally ambiguous. In fact NETS
renders each instance noted by Schaper above (Ps 9:19; 43[44]:24; 73[74]:19;
102[103]:9) with an adverbial sense “completely, totally,” etc. Despite its more
obvious temporality in M, even נצח†conveys the adverbial notion of “completely” in
many instances, although the difference between “completely” and “forever” is not
always clear. Pietersma likewise dismisses certain eschatological patristic
interpretations (e.g. Asterius, Didymus the Blind) since they are reception sources that
tell us nothing directly of the OG. Logically then, for Pietersma, εἰς τὸ τέλος is
merely isomorphic and, as is typical, has no temporal dimension at all.
Gauthier, Randall Xerxes. Psalms 38 and 145 of the Septuagint. Diss. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, 2010, page 139.
Rösel would have us believe that Εἰς τὸ τέλος should be understood eschatologically. He briefly entertains others possibilities but then
writes:
Sinnvoller ist die Übersetzung mit “Ende”, die man wohl auf die
Endzeit beziehen muss; die entsprechenden Lieder zielen demnach
auf die Endzeit. Diese Überlegung wird durch die auffällige
Verwendung des Artikels unterstützt, die m. E. eindeutig auf ein
bestimmtes Ende zielt.44
If such a claim could be substantiated it would mean that our Greek
translator in the act of translating has made some 55 psalms into psalms
about the end time. But the argument that leads to such a conclusion
seems fatally flawed.
The Book of Psalms: Composition & Reception. Ed. Peter W. Flint &
Patrick D. Miller. SVT 99. Brill: Leiden and Boston 2005
SEPTUAGINTAL EXEGESIS AND THE SUPERSCRIPTIONS
OF THE GREEK PSALTER
ALBERT PIETERSMA, p469.
see also:
Schaper, J. Eschatology in the Greek Psalter. (Wissenschaftliche
Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. 2. Reihe 76; Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1995).
I have no idea what it means in Hebrew, but in Greek it should mean “sing this one last.” I haven’t looked at the individual Psalms, but knowing a bit about hymns and church services, I imagine that it would be the more upbeat Psalms marked like this? And generally ones that emphasize the individual’s relationship with God, rather than general praise songs.
The translators of the Septuagint were notoriously out of it in many instances during their work (of course it was translated in the first place because they were forgetting Hebrew). E.g., I was reading Genesis 2, which talks about the land of Hawila and says that there is gold which is good in Hawila and אֶ֫בֶן הַשֹּׁ֫הַם. The Septuagint says ὁ λίθος ὁ πράσινος. But, as HALOT kindly notes, the Septuagint translates the keyword שֹׁ֫הַם as σάρδιον in a few places in Exodus and Hezekiel, as σμάραγδος in a few places in Exodus, as βηρύλλιον in a few places in Exodus and as ὄνυξ in Job. Josephus gives σαρδόνυξ. It is clear enough that they were guessing.
It is most likely that it actually meant ‘(red) carnelian’, as the corresponding Akkadian words (the most important of them being sāmtu(m)) all connote redness.
My theologian friend has gone as far as constantly saying that “The Septuagint is a s**tty book”, because it complicates matters which without it would seem clear. I don’t share his view, as in actual fact it in many places offers good suggestions how to interpret the Hebrew original or, forsooth, how the text originally looked like. But in other places it does confuse things.
