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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Septuagint vs Hebrew, effect on Christianity
  • Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:59:38 -0500

K Randolph wrote:

LXX was irrelevant to the founding of Christianity and the writing of
the New Testament.

HH: What do you mean when you say this? It is obvious that the NT quotation of many OT verses follows the LXX wording exactly or almost exactly.

HH: Here is a good scholarly page with assistance on studying the Septuagint and its relation to the NT:

http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/

HH: It includes this paragraph:

Some of the differences between the LXX and MT crop up in the New Testament (NT), which draws extensively, but not exclusively, from the LXX. The meaning of the theological vocabulary of the NT is interlocked with that of the LXX, especially in the Pauline writings, and the peculiarities of the LXX are readily apparent in NT quotations. Notable is LXX Isaiah 7.14, which promises that a virgin will be with child. MT Isaiah 7.14 reports her merely as a "woman" (Heb: almah). Thus the argument behind Matthew 1.23, which cites this verse as a prophecy of Jesus Christ, only makes sense given the reading in the LXX. This, and examples like it, prompted early Christians to attribute to the LXX a special status, so as to safeguard the authority of the NT. As a result, the differences between the LXX and MT directly contributed to the distinct directions Judaism and Christianity took in Late Antiquity.

HH: I don't agree with that interpretation of Isa 7:14 entirely, since I believe that "almah" could mean "virgin," but he whole paragraph reflects a widespread academic recognition of the correspondence of NT texts to the LXX.

HH: Here is an interesting website on the topic by an admitted non-expert who has nonetheless done work that shows the basic correspondence of much NT quotation of OT material to the text of the LXX:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/spexecsum.htm

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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