Thursday, October 23, 2014

Jesus used the Septuagint


Calvin:
I'm not sure I exactly understand what you are asking, so forgive me if you think I am avoiding the question.
The Jewish Canon, that Scripture which Jesus Himself believed in did not include the Apocryphal books.
The Jewish Canon which Jesus used is called the Septuagint. It contained the Deuterocanonicals. 


The number of books in the Hebrew Old Testament is 24 in the Hebrew method of counting which is equivalent to the 39 books we have in our English translations with our English methods of counting.
Actually, that is the Old Testament which was modified by the Hebrew speaking Jews in the 2nd Century after Christ. In rebellion of the Tradition of Jesus Christ and as a result of the Jewish persecution of the Christian Church, the Jews decided to remove from the Bible any books which were written in the Greek Language. 

You hold in your hands, the Old Testament held by those who oppose Christ.


The apocryphal books were only included in the Old Testament as late as the non-Christian Greek translation called The Septuagint.
The Old Testament is also non-Christian. The Old Testament is Jewish, including the Septuagint.


In other words, the Jewish Old Testament that Jesus believed to be authoritative did not contain the Apocryphal books.
Yes. It did. Jesus read from the Septuagint.


The Septuagint was translated around 300 B.C. while the earliest copies that we have are from 300 A.D. and it was between these 600 years that the Apocryphal books crept into the Greek Canon, yet they never appeared in the Hebrew Canon, nor did Jesus ever quote them or consider them to be authoritative.
There are many books of the OT which Jesus did not quote. If you were to throw them all out, your Bible would be very slim.


No New Testament book references an Apocryphal book as authoritative. Jesus does not teach from it.
Again, very few Old Testament books are referenced in the New Testament at all. If that is the criteria for authoritativeness, then you will have a very slim Bible.


Jesus says in Luke 24:44, "He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" (NIV).
So it does. But that does not say, "throw out the Deuterocanonicals." And we see that Jesus and the Apostles included the Deuterocanonicals in their preaching and teaching:

Matt. 6:19-20 - Jesus' statement about laying up for yourselves treasure in heaven follows Sirach 29:11 - lay up your treasure.

Mark 9:48 - description of hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched references Judith 16:17.

Luke 21:24 - Jesus' usage of "fall by the edge of the sword" follows Sirach 28:18.

John 3:13 - who has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven references Baruch 3:29.

1 Cor. 2:16 - Paul's question, "who has known the mind of the Lord?" references Wisdom 9:13.

James 1:19 - let every man be quick to hear and slow to respond follows Sirach 5:11.

Therefore, Jesus and the Apostles were aware of the Deuterocanonicals but never denied the inspiration thereof.

Sincerely,

De Maria

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