Finding LXX references in New Testament Greek Texts

Christian Alexander

How can I go about finding LXX references in the Greek New Testament using Logos Bible Software?

DMB

That's not easy. Apparatus notes sort of mix LXX mss refs with source of NT quotes, without indicating LXX vs MT. If you have UBS5 apparatus, search LXX. NA28 apparatus is a special 'G'.

It's a whole lot easier to work with an english text (eg Berean or NABre; NET has a bunch but mixes mss refs with sources).

The primary problem is quite a few source-issues are arguable ... MT, an earlier hebrew or an LXX version.

Dave Hooton

NT cross-references to LXX/Apocrypha books is about 126 in NABRE. Intertext has about 69 NT references to LXX/Apocrypha books in NABRE 

(using bible.nabre:"Tobit–2 Maccabees", bible.nabre:"wis-sirach", excluding bible.nabre:esther).

Otherwise, you don't know if LXX translation is used vs MT. But technical bible commentaries do distinguish.

MJ. Smith

It might be easier to identify those from the MT and assume the remainder are LXX

[quote]

It is not an exaggeration to say that without the Septuagint, there would be no New Testament. Its influence is seen in its three hundred or more explicit quotations, along with over fifteen hundred allusions and verbal parallels. I

Steve Moyise, “The Septuagint in the New Testament,” in T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research, ed. William A. Ross and W. Edward Glenny, T&T Clark Handbooks (London; New York; Oxford; New Delhi; Sydney: T&T Clark, 2021), 243.

[quote]

The Septuagint was widely used among early Christians. It is not always clear which text of Scripture is being quoted in the New Testament. Where differences between the Hebrew and Greek texts allow us to identify the text that is being quoted, 80 percent of the quotations of the Old Testament in the New come from the Septuagint.

David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 526.

[quote]

The Septuagint is the basis of the Christian Greek. It is a remarkable fact, not yet sufficiently explained, that the great majority of the direct citations of the Old Testament in the New, which amount to about 280, are taken from the Septuagint, or at all events agree better with it than with the Hebrew original.

Compare on this subject, David McCalman Turpie, The Old Testament in the New (Lond. 1868); Ed. Böhl, Die A.T. lichen Citate im N. T. (Wien, 1878), and his Forschungen nach einer Volksbibel zur Zeit Jesu und deren Zusammenhang mit der Septuaginta-Uebersetzung (ibid. 1873). These two scholars have very carefully examined all the quotations. Turpie states the result (p. 266 sqq.) in five tables as follows:
A. 53 quotations agree with the original Hebrew and with the Septuagint (correctly rendered).
B. 10 quotations agree with the Hebrew against the Septuagint (which is here incorrect).
C. 76 quotations differ from the Hebrew and from the Septuagint (which has correctly rendered the passages).
D. 37 quotations differ from the Hebrew and agree with the Septuagint.
E. 99 quotations differ both from the Hebrew and the Septuagint, which also differ from each other.

Philip Schaff, A Companion to the Greek Testament and the English Version (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883), 23.

While pinpointing direct influence of Targums on the New Testament remains a complex research area, scholars have identified a few possible examples where the NT wording seems closer to the MT (which reflects the Targumic tradition) than the LXX. Here are some instances:

1. Matthew 2:6: "For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel."

• LXX: "For out of you shall come forth a ruler, that shall rule my people Israel."
• MT: "For from you shall go forth a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel."

Here, the NT shares the possessive pronoun "My" with the MT and Targums, emphasizing God's special relationship with Israel, an emphasis not present in the LXX.

2. John 7:38: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, from his inner being shall flow rivers of living water."

• LXX: "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
• MT (Isaiah 58:11): "And Yahweh will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And make your bones fat; And you shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."

While the LXX focuses on the body, the NT and MT imagery connects belief to God's nourishing presence, potentially reflecting Targumic interpretations of Isaiah 58:11.

3. Acts 13:47: "Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in your days, A work which you shall in no wise believe, although a man declare it unto you."

• LXX: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in your days, A work which ye shall in no wise believe, although one should tell it unto you."
• MT (Habakkuk 1:5): "Behold, ye among the peoples, and look, and wonder greatly: for I work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you."

The NT aligns with the MT and Targums by adding "among the peoples," emphasizing the broader significance of God's action.

Important Caveats:

• These are just a few possible examples, and scholars debate the extent to which they definitively reflect Targumic influence.
• Other factors, like independent interpretation or shared source texts, could explain the similarities.
• Attributing specific Targumic influence remains challenging due to their diverse and undocumented nature.