[B-Greek] LXX question

Randall Buth randallbuth at gmail.com
Mon Dec 15 05:29:00 EST 2008


> I've often heard that the LXX was the "official" Old Testament of both Jews
> and Christians around the time of Jesus. I'm wondering what the actual
> evidence for this is? Clearly it was widely used, and was the text used
> when the NT authors quoted the OT, but does it follow that there was no
> Hebrew Bibles, and that no Jew could read Hebrew at the time? Does it
> follow that Jesus could not read Hebrew and was educated in Greek?

> I've only been able to find texts that make this above claim for the LXX,
> but don't give any detail to back it up. So I'm hoping someone here can
> help me fill in the details, or point me to a good book that can.

> thanks,
> Derek Flood

It appears that you've been given a mix of wrong and misleading information.

First, the "LXX" is complicated, there was more than one edition of the Old
Greek Bible in circulation, at least in parts.
Secondly, while the LXX/Old Greek was the text of choice for NT writers, not
everything in the NT goes back to the LXX/Old Greek.
Thirdly, the Dead Sea Scrolls render your last three questions/propositions
incredible. The Hebrew Bible was the text of choice for Jews living in the
Land in the First Century. And of course they could read it, it wasn't
wallpaper.
Fourthly, quotations and stories from 1st century rabbis show an exceptionally
keen awareness of even the minutiae of the Hebrew texts.
For example, the debate of Hillel and Shammai on grounds for divorce hung
on the word order of Dt 24 ervat davar in Hebrew. Hillel said "anything goes"
Shammai said 'sexual sin/incest' and the debate question was put to Jesus,
'Is it true that divorce can be based on 'anything'?

For reliable books on the subject, you might start with the articles by Mussies
on 'Greek' and by Chaim Rabin on 'Hebrew and Aramaic' in the multivolume work
The Jewish People in the First Century: Historical Geography,
Political History,
Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions
ed. Safrai and Stern.
The language articles are in a 1976 volume in that series.

Finally, I would suggest taking the plunge and learning Greek well
from a reliable
source. Reading the Greek on your own will also put you in contact
will a plethora
of information and conflicting views that will help you see where different
proposals are coming from. You may also find that learning Hebrew to a fluent
level is even easier than Greek, so don't stop with Greek.

blessings
Randall Buth

--
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
randallbuth at gmail.com
Biblical Language Center
Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life


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