Bible Question:
I understand that Jews, keeping the faith in cultures all around the Mediterranean, translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. They did this about 250 years before Christ. This translation -- the Septuagint -- was the version most known in the early church. Some verses have discrepancies between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, and these discrepancies are carried over into the New Testament. I understand the we are to treat the original manuscripts as authoritative --- what then are we to make of the New Testament's treatment of the Septuagint as authoritative? |
Bible Answer: Hello, JRM. The Septuagint has fascinated me for several years now, although I by no means claim to be an authority on the subject. It is my understanding that the Septuagint (LXX) was written in the common ("koine") Greek language -- as opposed to the classical Greek language. It was this common Greek language that the inspired writers of the New Testament used -- apparently by permission if not by mandate of the Holy Spirit. Thus, according to scholars, the syntax and vocabulary of the Greek NT are based largely upon that of the Greek OT -- the LXX. This explains why certain words have come to us as they have; for example, the OT Hebrew "Yeshua" (which is translated into "Joshua" in English) was translated in the the Greek OT as "IESOUS". This of course is the NT Greek word that is transliterated into the English name of our Savior -- JESUS. Also the OT Hebrew word "Messiah" was translated into the Greek word "CHRISTOS" -- which we know as the word CHRIST in English. From what I have read about the LXX, it apparently largely follows a different Hebrew text (found among the Dead Sea scrolls) instead of the Masoretic text of our Hebrew OT. Yet, the textual differences are slight (e.g., word order, spellings and/or punctuation), with no doctrinal/theological variances. Maybe this will help in answering your question. In Christ, tdc |