The First Bible of the Church

A Plea for the Septuagint

Mogens Müller

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

Supplement Series 206

Copenhagen International Seminar 1

To Lisbet

Copyright © 1996 Sheffield Academic Press

Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd

Mansion House

19 Kingfield Road

Sheffield S11 9AS

England

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 1-85075-571-X

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Synopsis of the Content of Biblia Hebraica, Septuagint and Vulgate

Chapter 1

Introduction

1. The Jewish Bible—The Christian Bible

2. The Impact of the Old Testament on the New Testament

3. Is the Bible of the Church Synonymous with Biblia Hebraica and/or the Septuagint?

Chapter 2

The Jewish Bible at the Time of the New Testament

1. The Formation of the Canon of the Jewish Bible

2. The Hebrew Bible Text

3. The Greek Version of the Jewish Bible

4. The Textual History of the Septuagint

Chapter 3

Jewish Defence of the Greek Translation of the Law

1. Aristeas

2. Aristobulus

3. Philo

4. Josephus

Chapter 4

The Reception of the Septuagint Legend into the Church up to and Including Augustine

1. Graeca Veritas

2. Hebraica Veritas

3. The Sequel

Chapter 5

Hebraica sive Graeca Veritas?

1. The Septuagint as a Phenomenon

2. The Septuagint: A Witness to the Handing on of Traditions

3. Translatio et/sive Interpretatio

4. The Septuagint: An Alternative to Biblia Hebraica?

Chapter 6

Vetus Testamentum in Novo Receptum

1. The Biblical Theological Impact of the Old Testament

2. The Use of the Bible in the New Testament

3. The ‘Christianization’ of the Old Testament

Chapter 7

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index of References

Index of Authors

Preface

In connection with the preparations for the new Danish Bible translation (authorized in 1992), my interest in the problems concerning the shape of the Jewish Bible in New Testament times was awakened. The obvious difficulty is of course that most New Testament authors seem to have been unable to quote the Old Testament correctly, insofar as we identify the Old Testament with the Hebrew Bible. However, usually they used the old Greek translation, the Septuagint, which was produced in the third and second centuries bce. What makes us so certain today that it is the Hebrew text that represents the Old Testament in a Christian context? What caused the displacement of the Septuagint? If it was that the Hebrew text was judged to be the Ur-text, this is no longer so certain as it used to be. Today it is an open question whether the Septuagint should be reinstalled as the Old Testament of the Church.

In this book I have summarized, corrected and continued my studies on the role of the Septuagint in Judaism around the beginning of the Christian era and in the early Church. I have also dealt with the significance of the special character of this translation as a witness to an independent tradition, and the problems that concern its place in biblical theology. ...