Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Schmuel wrote:


> > > HH: You don't include other sources of LXX quotations such as Philo and Josephus. 

> > Schmuel: Do Philo or Josephus give any support for those actual verses ?
> > I have never seen even one.

HH: You see, Floyd Jones seems to claim that Philo 
and Josephus may not even have used the Septuagint:

4. Another name mentioned as having used a B.C. 
LXX is Philo (c.20 B.C. – c.A.D. 50) of
Alexandria. . . . Some have suggested that Philo 
is possibly the author of The letter of Aristeas. 
Even if this were untrue , the possibility exists 
that Philo's only real knowledge of the Septuagint 
is the result of his having read Aristeas. The 
fact is that there are no actual quotes contained 
in his work that are cited from a Greek 
translation of the Old Testament.

5. Lastly, the Jewish Historian Josephus (A.D. 
37-100?) is often cited as having used the
Septuagint. However no quotes of his having done 
so are ever offered to certify such a claim. . . . 
Moreover, no real evidence exists demonstrating 
that he ever used or even saw a
Septuagint.

HH: However, I just cited an authority yesterday 
who shows it is common knowledge that we have many 
quotes of the Septuagint from Philo and Josephus:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Judaism/Septuagint%20(Old%20Greek)


Extensive quotations and allusions in Greek are 
also preserved in
Philo (ca. 30 CE), Paul (ca. 50), Josephus (ca. 
80), 1 Clement
(ca. 95), and a number of other Christian texts 
from the early
[[813]] period.

HH: The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica states:
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/The_Septuagint

The Septuagint came into general use with the 
Grecian Jews even in the synagogue. Philo and 
Josephus use it, and so do the New Testament writers.

HH: Wikipedia adds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo

Both Philo and Josephus show a reliance on the 
Septuagint in their citations of Jewish scripture.

HH: The New Advent Encyclopedia says this about 
Josephus (note the second sentence)

Josephus's second work, the "Jewish Antiquities" 
(Ioudaike Archaiologia), contains in twenty books 
the whole history of the Jews from the Creation to 
the outbreak of the revolt in A.D. 66. Books I-XI 
are based on the text of the Septuagint, though at 
times he also repeats traditional explanations 
current among the Jews in later times.

HH: It is evident that Floyd Jones is 
contradicting common knowledge when he suggests 
that neither Philo or Josephus used the Septuagint.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard