To: "b-hebrew-lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Septuagint vs Hebrew, effect on Christianity
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:13:04 -0500
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.
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.
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
Re: [b-hebrew] Septuagint vs Hebrew, effect on Christianity
, (continued)