Ἱκανός in the Septuagint: A Lens on Divine Sufficiency and Human Inadequacy?

Recent scholarship on Septuagint (LXX) lexicography has identified the introduction of new terms, the development of new meanings or of existing ones, and the resulting nuances conveyed to the biblical text through specific nouns. Against this background, this article focuses on the term ἱκανός, paying special attention to its unique renderings in reference to people and to God in the LXX. The article examines, therefore, the use of ἱκανός as a name of God in Ruth 1:20–21. After briefly surveying its occurrences where it refers to people from a quantitative point of view, this contribution explores the instances where ἱκανός describes a person (or a group of people) qualitativly (Exod 4:10; Joel 2:11; cf. 1 Macc 16:3). In this way, through considering the use of ἱκανός as a lens for expressing divine sufficiency and human (in)adequacy, the article highlights the nuances that this term conveys to the Greek text—nuances that are not necessarly attested in the presumed Hebrew Vorlage.