Q. I see that throughout you make reference to the NETS translation of various texts. What is your overall assessment of this translation? Would you recommend it for my seminary level and doctoral students, or for pastors and educated laity in the church?
A. NETS is the New English Translation of the Septuagint. After having to manage for so long with no satisfactory translation of the Greek version of the Old Testament, we now have two. The other is Nicholas King’s translation of the whole Greek Bible, i.e. the Septuagint (or Old Greek) Old Testament and the Greek New Testament (2013). As one scholar’s translation of the whole Bible, it is a remarkable achievement. NETS, by contrast, allocates each book of the Septuagint to a different scholar. I have not attempted a comparative assessment, but tend to assume that the translators of NETS were able to devote more attention to their one book than King could have done in the context of his massive single-handed project. NETS also provides very useful introductions to each of the books, which often comment on such matters as the Greek translators treatment of the Hebrew original. So I use NETS as my standard English version of LXX, but I often also consult King. Since the LXX (OG) is the version that most (not all) New Testament writers used, I would say that one or both of these translations would be useful for any advanced study of the New Testament.
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