It must be confessed that the existence of two Greek versions increases
the probability, though it does not prove the existence, of an original
in another language. It does not seem likely that ?? would have revised
the ????? of the additions in the same way as the canonical part, unless he
had a similar basis to go upon in both cases. If not, why, and on what
authority, did he alter the additions at all? And this consideration
applies to the other two, even more than to the one we are dealing with,
inasmuch as the version of Susanna and of Bel and the Dragon involved
more numerous changes. Iren?¦us' statement that Theodotion "????????®???µ?…???µ??,"
taken strictly, would of course always imply an original to translate;
but Iren?¦us may only have been thinking of the particular passage from
Isaiah which he refers to (III. xxiii.).
Many phrases may be instanced which point to a Semitic original, or at
least fit in well with the theory of its existence. Towards
counterbalancing this there is a much smaller number which may be
thought to tell in the opposite direction.
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