GRINFIELD LECTURES ON
THE SEPTUAGINT 2022–24
SÉBASTIEN MORLET
Professor of Greek language and literature,
Sorbonne Université
“The Plurality of the Biblical Text – Past and Present”
(Second Series)
6th Week, Hilary Term 2024
All lectures will be presented in a hybrid format which will be accessible both online (see below for links) and
in person in the venues indicated below.
Tuesday February 20th
, 2.00–3.30 p.m.
1. Textual plurality and manuscripts: the views of ancient commentators
Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Walton Street, Catherine Lewis Lecture Theatre
(Seminar on Jewish History and Literature in the Graeco-Roman Period, followed by tea in the Common
Room)
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclfu-vqzgsEtEQtcpA3Emb12Eqojf-FXz2
Wednesday February 21st
, 5–6.30 p.m.
2. The plurality inside the text: ancient views on the coherence or incoherence of the Biblical
text
Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Walton Street, Catherine Lewis Lecture Theatre (followed
by a drinks’ reception)
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcodeigqT8iHtU3JluJoAuQs2131awSMbip
Thursday February 22nd, 4–6 p.m.
3. The Bible inside the plurality of texts: its relation to other texts according to ancient
commentators
Oriel College, Harris Lecture Theatre (please consult at Porter’s lodge to gain 4-digit code for access)
(Early Biblical Interpretation Seminar)
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoce2rqzorH9wJL11B2ufd0r2ZLO99BXbB
Prof. Sébastien Morlet’s research is devoted to ancient Jewish and Christian texts written in Greek, with
a focus on their relation to Greek paideia and philosophy. He is the author of La Démonstration
évangélique d’Eusèbe de Césarée. Étude sur l’apologétique chrétienne à l’époque de Constantin (2009),
Christianisme et philosophie : les premières confrontations (2014), Les Chrétiens et la culture : conversion
d’un concept (2016) and Symphonia. La concorde des textes et des doctrines dans la littérature grecque
jusqu’à Origène (2019). He is preparing the volume «2 Règnes» (2 Kingdoms) in the Bible d’Alexandrie
series.

Grinfield Lectures
Edward William Grinfield (1785–1864) was an Oxford graduate and Anglican clergyman. Grinfield’s work on the text of the New Testament led him to believe that the Septuagint—the collection of Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible carried out by Jewish translators between c. 250 BCE-100 CE, mostly in Egypt—was for Christians the most authoritative and inspired version of Scripture. In 1861, therefore, a Lecturership was endowed in his name funding three lectures in each academic year “on the LXX version of the Hebrew Scriptures, its history, its philological character, its bearing on the criticisms of the New Testament, and its value as an evidence of the authenticity of the Old and New Testaments.” Over the course of the last 150 years, Grinfield Lectures have been presented by many highly regarded scholars, and subsequently published (however, Edward Grinfield would not always approve of the findings!).

Traditionally, the lectures have been presented in the Examination Schools at Oxford, though in recent years additional venues in the University (as well as online platforms) have been used.