Category Image So, What's the Big Deal?


So, I'm clearly excited about the new Orthodox Study Bible. The obvious question is, why? The answer is the LXX. That is the Septuagint, which refers to the Greek version of the Old Testament, apparently translated in the 2nd century, BC.

The LXX technically refers to the first 5 books of the Bible. However, it came to refer to the Greek Canon that was used by the early Church. This means that the Orthodox Study Bible uses both the books authorized by the Church, and the correct source documents. The first point is important. Protestants dropped many books from the Bible, mostly due to an incorrect reading of St. Jerome. The latter point, however, is perhaps even more important. For there are subtle flaws in the source text for most Western Bibles. Justin Martyr, back in the early days of the Second Century, accused the Jewish leadership of altering the text of the Bible in many places. The basic accusation was that they altered passages which the early Christians used to argue for Jesus as the Christ. You can find a list of such alterations here. Many are subtle, but nonetheless intriguing.

Another point is that this is the text of the early Church. Most New Testament quotes agree better with the Septuagint text than with the Masoretic text. The example that always springs to mind is Hebrews 10:5-7:

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.

However, if you check your cross reference, you will be sent to to Psalm 40 (If you're lucky, they'll point you to the LXX), where you will likely see the following:

Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire; but thou hast given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required.

An open ear? That's not what St. Paul said. That's because he was referring to the LXX. There are other cases of this, but this is the most egregious. Its certainly not the end of the world - and you can muddle along fine with the Masoretic text. But now that you don't have to, why would you want to?

Of course, not every NT quote squares better with the LXX. Some square better with the manuscript tradition that led to the Masoretic text. For those who hold to a very strict form of Sola Scriptura, you'd imagine that the variable manuscripts would be somewhat problematic. After all, how could you be sure that the OT passage you're reading is correct. A similar problem underlies the NT as well. As noted in an earlier entry , and underscored here , that is not a problem within Orthodoxy where the Scripture comes from the Church and is part of the overall tradition.

Posted: Sunday - February 24, 2008 at 05:05 PM          

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