Perseverance in the Septuagint: The Semantic Fields of ἰσχύω and ἀνδρίζομαι in the Greek Bible and Contemporary Documents

This contribution to a collection of papers dedicated to professor Anna Passoni dell'Acqua combines the lexicographical work done by the honoree and the present writer. It focusses on the peculiar Septuagintal expressions for perseverance against the background of the documentary papyri and related expressions in Classical and Hellenistic literature. The Greek translators of the Pentateuch, Joshua and Chronicles alternated between colloquial Greek and so-called 'translationese' Greek. Perhaps homophony between the Greek and corresponding Hebrew expressions played a role in the Greek translators' choice for the verbs ἰσχύω and ἀνδρίζομαι instead of the Greek verb θαρσέω in the context of encouragement of Israel's leaders Joshua and Solomon (Greek Deuteronomy, Joshua and Chronicles).