I have been wondering about a question in regard to the Biblical Canon of the Orthodox Church, in particular regarding the Septuagint, Peshitta, and Orthodox Tewahedo canons. I've seen from quite a few Protestant sources state that the Septuagint is not quoted in the New Testament, as opposed to some Orthodox Sources which state that the Septuagint is heavily quoted throughout the New Testament. In addition this, are there any French or English language sources discussing this topic? Help will be much appreciated
Comments
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Septuagint
http://ww1.antiochian.org/content/june-13-2012-psalter-according-seventy
http://paxexsistovos.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-orthodox-christians-prefer.htmlWhat many people do not realize is that, as
long as we can determine, there have been variants in the Scriptural texts as
they have come down to us. Our readers will note that we have pointed out that
the texts of the Old Testament that the Protestants and Roman Catholics use
today are different from the Septuagint text that the Orthodox Church has used
since the time of our Saviour. Why?
By royal decree, the Septuagint text was
prepared in the third century before Christ in Alexandria Egypt by the best
Jewish scholars of the day.* At the time, Alexandria was the greatest center of
learning in the known world, and its library was famous for its completeness
and the valuable manuscripts it contained. The Septuagint translation was an
occasion of great celebration, and a special day was set aside to commemorate
this event in the Jewish community, which, for the most part, no longer spoke Hebrew,
especially in the diaspora. (In Palestine the Jews spoke only Aramaic.) Now,
with the Septuagint translation, the rabbis could instruct their people again
easily in a language most of them spoke (Greek), but, in addition, they could
make their faith more readily accessible to the pagan world around them.
Consequently, the Septuagint was held in great esteem, and in the time of our
Saviour, it was in wide use in the Jewish community (as the many quotations
from it in the New Testament testify). What is also noteworthy is that Philo,
one of the greatest Jewish scholars of antiquity, was also one of the foremost
apologists for the Jewish religion among the pagans. Through the many tracts he
wrote (all of them based on the Septuagint text), he led many thousands of
pagans to convert to the Jewish faith. Yet, Philo, a contemporary of our
Saviour, could not speak Hebrew. He knew only Greek.
With the appearance of Christianity,
however, things began to change. The many thousands of pagans who formerly had
converted to Judaism now began turning to the Christian faith. In addition,
thousands of Jews also converted to Christianity. Through the work of the holy
Apostles, the evangélion, the "good news" of our Saviour and His
triumph over mankind's last enemy ― death ― began spreading like wildfire
throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond. Furthermore, the Apostles were
armed with proofs: the Old Testament prophecies that foretold of our Saviour's
coming. Thanks to the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, those
prophecies were in a language almost everyone could understand. In the
meantime, the whole Jewish world was shaken with a terrible catastrophe — the
fall and complete destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 by the Roman legions.
This event, prophesied by our Saviour, caused utter consternation in the Jewish
community, because, not only had the political center of the country vanished
amidst inhuman atrocities and barbarity, but the Temple itself was gone!
Literally, no stone was left upon a stone; the very center and heart of the
Jewish faith had been ruthlessly cut out by the Romans, and even the Jewish
priesthood was exterminated. The few shreds left of the city's population were
banished and the Jews began a long exile. In an attempt to restore some order
out of this total devastation, around A. D. 90 or 100 a prestigious school of
rabbis in the city of Jamnia (or Jabneh), which is some thirteen miles south of
Jaffa, constituted a new Sanhedrin and discussed and determined the canon of
the Old Testament. In view of the fact that the Septuagint was being used so
extensively (and effectively) by the "new faith" (Christianity) in
winning many thousands of converts from paganism and from the Jewish people
themselves, it was resolved by the rabbinical school to condemn the Septuagint
text and forbid its use among the Jews. The day which had been formerly been
set aside as a day of celebration commemorating the translation of the
Septuagint was now declared a day of mourning. Philo's valuable tracts in
defense of the Jewish faith were renounced as well, since they were based on
the Septuagint translation.
The Old Testament text used today by some
Christians is the Masoretic text, which was prepared by Jewish scholars in the
centuries after Christ. When they picked among the many variant texts to
prepare their own version of the Old Testament, these Jewish scholars, as might
be readily understood, had an already decided bias against any Scriptural
variant that might lend itself to a Christian interpretation. As the centuries
passed, those variant texts not used by the rabbis fell by the wayside, or were
usually destroyed, and thus, about a millennium after Christ, these scholars
finally arrived at what is now known as the Masoretic text.
With the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls
in the middle of the twentieth century, however, the numerous ancient variants
in the Hebrew sacred texts came to light again, and, in many cases, the
Septuagint text proved to reflect the original Hebrew text better than the text
that has come down to us in the later Masoretic version.
Also, many ancient Hebrew words cannot be
understood or even pronounced any longer. They can be translated and understood
only with the help of the Septuagint.
Thanks to the Dead Sea scrolls, the
Septuagint text is now held in far greater esteem among non-Orthodox scholars
than it was even a few years ago. The Septuagint text may have its own
problems, but it represents an ancient and authentic Hebrew tradition. For
centuries, it was beloved and celebrated by the Jewish people, and that is one
of the reasons why it was, and still is, espoused and revered by the Christian
Church.
http://prescottorthodox.com/visitor-posts/the-bible-of-the-early-church/
“PSALM 40:6
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire;
my ears you have opened (Masoretic)
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire;
but you have prepared a body for me (Septuagint)
ISAIAH 7:14
The
The virgin will be with child and will giveyoung woman will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel. (Masoretic) (This is corrected to virgin in most Protestant Bibles)
birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Septuagint)
http://prescottorthodox.com/visitor-posts/the-bible-of-the-early-church/ here
“PSALM 40:6
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire;