The
Septuagint
The Septuagint
occupies an important place in any
study of the Tetragrammaton in the
Christian Greek Scriptures. This is
true for at least three reasons:
-
The extent to which the
Christian Scripture writers
referred to either a Hebrew text or
the Septuagint when they
copied Hebrew Scripture passages
must be determined. This can be
done by comparing the Greek words
used in the Kingdom Interlinear
Translation with the Greek words
used for the same passage in the
Septuagint. The results must
then be compared with the Hebrew
text. If the Christian Scripture
passage in the Kingdom Interlinear
Translation indicates by its
vocabulary and content that it was
directly translated from the Hebrew
passage, it can be assumed that the
Christian Scripture writer was
using a Hebrew text as he wrote. If
the two Greek texts are identical
or vary by only insignificant
words—and if both Greek texts
vary significantly from the
vocabulary and content of the
Hebrew text—then it can be
assumed that the Christian
Scripture writer quoted from the
Septuagint. The word order and
vocabulary of the Kingdom
Interlinear Translation indicates
that the Christian Scripture
writers both translated from Hebrew
texts and quoted from the Greek
Septuagint. The question you
must answer is this: How frequently
did the Christian Scripture writers
translate from Hebrew texts or
quote from the
Septuagint?
-
There are today, extant copies
of the Septuagint which use
the Tetragrammaton
(יהוה)
within the Greek text.
Consequently, the translation date
for these individual
Septuagint versions must be
established in order to determine
whether or not these same
Septuagint versions could
have been used by the Christian
Scripture writers. Thus, if a
particular Septuagint
version is known to have been in
existence by at least the time of
the writing of the Christian
Scriptures, it could be assumed
that the Christian Scripture writer
was familiar with that
Septuagint version.
(According to Aid to Bible
Understanding, page 318, the last
books written were the Gospel and
Epistles of John in 98 C.E.) On the
other hand, if that
Septuagint version was
produced after the close of the
first century C.E., then it can be
stated that the Christian Scripture
writers did not have access to at
least that particular
Septuagint version.
The question
you must answer is this:
Considering both the number and the
dates of extant Septuagint
manuscripts, what is the likelihood
that the Christian Scripture
writers could have obtained a copy
of the Septuagint containing
the Tetragrammaton (
יהוה) when
they quoted Hebrew Scripture? Your
answer will also take the
information used in the third
question into account.
-
The Septuagint was well
represented among the Qumran Cave
manuscripts. The Essene
communicants responsible for these
manuscripts were devout and often
seperatist Jews. They placed high
value on their Jewish tradition and
Scriptures. Of all groups which
existed just prior to Jesus' life,
we would expect them to be the
least inclined to use Greek
translations of the Hebrew
Scriptures. In addition, we also
know that the growth of
Christianity had little influence
on the Qumran manuscripts because
they were hidden sometime prior to
the Roman conquest in 69-70 C.E.
The questions
you must answer are these:
Considering the large number of
Septuagint manuscripts found
among this very conservative Jewish
sect, what Scriptures would we
expect to find among the general
populace of Palestine in Jesus'
day? Would they be exclusively
Hebrew-language
Scriptures?
About this Page
This page refers you
to web sites reporting extensive
Septuagint research. In addition
to linking you directly to the web
sites, we have also linked you to a
number of topics within the web sites.
This will direct you to specific
information without requiring that you
www.geocities.com/r_grant_jones/Rick/Septuagint/spindex.htm
search for it. For the sake of using
more familiar information, we also
included an introduction to the
Septuagint from Aid to Bible
Understanding and Appendix 1c from the
New World Translation Reference
Edition.
The most useful
Septuagint web sites are:
www.geocities.com/Grant Jones
and www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX.
You can search these sites for much of
the material listed below. However, for
quick reference, we have listed
specific pages by topic.
When using the
material which comes from other
publishers or web sites, please
remember that it is covered by their
copyrights.
In the subject lists
below, we have highlighted the
headings you will most likely need in
your basic research. Supplementary
links are also highlighted.
Introduction to the
Septuagint.
I. A
General Introduction to the
Septuagint:
A review of theSeptuagint
from Aid to Bible
Understanding.
The Divine Name in Ancient Greek
Versions, Appendix 1c
from The New World Translation
Reference Edition. This appendix lists
10 ancient Greek Septuagint
manuscripts which use the
Tetragrammaton.
II. For
other information relating to the
Septuagint:
www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX
www.geocities.com/r_grant_jones/Rick/Septuagint
www.newadvent.org/cathen/13722a.htm
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/
III. A
comprehensive discussion of textual
issues with many links related to the
Tetragrammaton and ancient
manuscripts:
Greek Scribal Culture in Early Jewish and Christian Settings
The following section will be
your primary area of research in
answering the three questions asked in
the introductory paragraphs above. (The
questions are written in yellow font.)
Please read
this statement of purpose and the
tutorial.
Our
Purpose / Using the links
effectively
IV. The
Septuagint in the New
Testament:
The Septuagint in the NT
V. Table of
Old Testament quotes in the
NT:
Table of OT quotations in the
NT
VI.
Quotations in New Testament
Order:
Quotations in NT Order
VII.
Instances where the NT follows the
Hebrew meaning:
The Masoretic Reading Is Quoted in the
NT
VIII.
Instances where the Septuagint
is Quoted in the NT:
The Septuagint Quoted in the NT
IX. A
Manuscript Photo Album:
- Septuagint manuscripts
with
יהוה
in a Greek text.
A
montage of nine examples
Scribal
confusion in copying the
Tetragrammaton
PFaouad
266b (1st century bce)
POxy
1007b (3rd century ce)
Nahal
Hever Minor Prophets ( 0 bce /
ce)
POxy
3522 (1st century ce)
POxy
1007 (3rd century ce)
A
catalog of ancient
manuscripts
- Jewish copies of the
Septuagint in Greek before the
Christian era. (There are many more
examples, especially from the Qumran
Caves)
Qumran
4QLXX (2nd century bce)
Qumran
7QLXXEpler (100 bce)
PRylands
Gk 458 (2nd century bce)
Qumran
7QLXXEx (100 bce)
Qumran
4Q127 (1st century bce)
-
A bce Jewish manuscript using
Kurios rather than
יהוה.
Qumran
4Q126 (1st century bce)
- Representations of the Hebrew
Tetragrammaton.
Seven
examples (1st century bce to 7th
ce)
Other useful information.
X. Origen's
Hexapla with
יהוה and
PIPI
Appendix J: Origen's
Hexapla
The
Hexapla's six
columns
The
Ambrosiana O 39 Sup.
manuscript
XI. A
wealth of Septuagint texts and
translations:
http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/Texts.htm
XII.
Brenton's 1851 translation of the
Septuagint into
English:
http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/Septuagint-hyperlinked.html*
http://www.ccel.org/bible/brenton/
*An
excellent reference, but it takes
considerable time to
download.
XIII.
The Septuagint in
Greek.
You can use this link to compare the
Greek wording of the Septuagint
with that of the Kingdom Interlinear
Translation:
http://www.septuagint.org/LXX/
XIV. A
description of the differences between
the Hebrew and Septuagint
texts:
http://www.bible-researcher.com/isbelxx04.html#ix
XV. Online
Septuagint reference
materials:
http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/Secondlit.htm
XVI.
An interesting perspective on Jeremiah
44:26 and the LXX:
http://askelm.com/doctrine/d910501.htm
XVII. The
International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia entries on the
Septuagint:
http://www.bible-researcher.com/isbelxx01.html
XVIII.
Introduction to the Old testament in
Greek by Henry Barclay Swete, Cambridge
University Press, 1914:
http://rosetta.reltech.org/cgi-bin/Ebind2html/TC/SweteIntro
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