Does the New Testament Quote the Septuagint?
By
James Scott Trimm
One of the arguments frequently used to support the supposed Greek origin of the “New Testament” is the claim that the book of the “New Testament” often quote the Septuagint (LXX) Greek version of the Tanak. However this is a very dubious claim.
Only the Greek NT Quotes the LXX
To begin with, it is only the Greek version of the NT that seems, at times, to quote the Septuagint. However in the Old Syriac and Peshitta Aramaic versions of the NT, there is just as much a tendency for there to be agreement with the Aramaic Peshitta Tanak. This might just as easily prove that the books were written in Aramaic. And the Tanak quotes in the Hebrew versions of Matthew often agree with the Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Tanak, which might just as easily prove that Matthew was written in Hebrew.
This argument is actually an exercise in circular thinking. In reality, even today, it is common practice for a translator of a book to use a standard version of the Scriptures in his translation of a book. For example, I have a book in my library that was originally written in German but has been translated into English. All of the Scripture quotations in this book, are taken directly from the KJV. But that in no way indicates that English is the original language of this book. In fact, if we assume the Greek NT is a translation, we should be surprised if the Tanak quotes never bore any resemblance to the LXX readings of those same verses.
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint
Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars had no expectation of ever having the opportunity to examine pre-Masoretic Hebrew manuscripts of Tanak books. In fact, the 1948 edition of Sir Fredrick Kenyon’s book Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, we read:
There is indeed no probability that we shall ever find manuscripts of the Hebrew text going back to a period before the formation of the text which we know as Masoretic. We can only arrive at an idea of it by a study of the earliest translations made from it…
Yet that very year the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, giving us a plethora of such manuscripts. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls are hundreds of biblical manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts, such as two Isaiah scrolls, agree very closely with the Masoretic Text, while others, such as a scroll of Samuel, contain significant agreements with the text of the Greek Septuagint against the Masoretic Text.
We have learned that ancient Hebrew manuscripts of Tanak books from the Second Temple Era, often have readings that agree with readings found in the Septuagint, against readings found in the Masoretic Text. Therefore, when a NT book quotes a Tanak passage with a reading that agrees with the Septuagint against the Masoretic Text, that NT book may well be quoting a Second Temple Era Hebrew manuscript that agreed with the Septuagint, against our current Masoretic Text. In fact, knowing what we now know about Second Temple Era Hebrew manuscripts of Tanak books, we should be surprised if the NT never quoted Tanak books in agreement with the Septuagint against the Masoretic Text.
The Hebrew and Aramaic origin of the New Testament cannot be dismissed or disproved based on the claim that the NT quotes the Septuagint.
If we are to truly return to these Jewish roots then we must seek to better understand what the “New Testament” actually says in the languages in which it was written. The books known as the “New Testament” were originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic and were later translated into Greek, Latin and other European languages. Many passages in the New Testament do not make sense at all in Greek, but only begin to make sense in Hebrew and Aramaic.
The Scripture Restoration Project grew out of a pair of blogs at NazareneSpace:
Restoration of the Word of YHWH and Restoring the House of Judah
In those blogs I wrote to you about the importance of the Restoration of the Word of YHWH. At that time I cited a prophecy from the Book of Enoch, which says of the last days:
But when they write down truthfully all my words in their languages, and do not change or diminish ought from my words but write them all down truthfully –all that I first testified concerning them. Then, I know another mystery, that books will be given to the righteous and the wise to become a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom. And to them shall the books be given, and they shall believe in them and rejoice over them, and then shall all the righteous who have learnt therefore all the paths of uprightness be recompensed.’
(1Enoch 104:10-13)
At that time I said: Enoch was speaking of this generation. There is much work to be done, and less time than ever in which to get it done.
The time is near at hand in which “the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” (Isaiah 29:18)
As many of you know, my wife is chronically ill, disabled and suffering from chronic pain. We have been hit with about $500 in unforeseen medical expenses this month. In these uncertain times, we need your support more than ever. The time is short, and there is much work to be done. This is no time to pull back from the great work in front of us!
As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.
If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.
Now is time to step up to the plate!