I'm looking for a resource that goes into detail as to why the Masoretic text was chosen as the base text for our bible and not the Septuagint. I would like the resource to be in Logos, but not required.
Have you read The First Bible of the Church: A Plea for the Septuagint? Its bibliography should also be a helpful starting point.
In the Reformation period the picture changed radically in the Western Church. Those people who translated the Old Testament into their respective national languages gradually became more sympathetic to Jerome’s perception of the canon. Their attitude blended with the biblical humanists’ demand for translations based directly on the original languages.58 This development was connected with the growing interest in Hebrew towards the end of the fifteenthth century, which had started as a preoccupation with Jewish mysticism, and particularly with the kabbalah.59 Soon, however, the idea prevailed that to be able to penetrate into the true and original meaning of Scripture, it was necessary to study the Old Testament in its own language. One of the pioneers in this respect was Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522) who published a Hebrew textbook and translated some of David’s penitential psalms directly from the Hebrew (1512). Reuchlin, and others with him, thought that the Hebrew original contained the Old Testament writings in their original shape. Besides, it was the general opinion, that every translation was in principle secondary. Thus, when Luther began to translate the Old Testament (finished 1534), he quite naturally based his translation on the Hebrew text. The Roman Church now became the supporter of the inheritance from the Septuagint. Among other things, it saw to it that the first printed editions of it were published.60 The primary concern of the Roman Church was to vindicate the volume of the biblical canon as it was found in the Vulgate.Ever since, the Septuagint has led a cinderella-like existence among the Protestants. Predominantly due to the orthodox dogma of verbal inspiration, the Hebrew text was allowed to dominate completely. Mogens Müller, The First Bible of the Church: A Plea for the Septuagint, vol. 206, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 95–96.
Thanks. I forgot about that resource.
While I don't particularly recommend the author's point of view, you might look at Russel Gmirkin, Berosus, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch—
https://www.logos.com/product/8763/berossus-and-genesis-manetho-and-exodus-hellenistic-histories-and-the-date-of-the-pentateuch
or, more cheaply in
https://www.logos.com/product/5404/pentateuch-history-and-origins-collection
As I said, I totally disagree with him—it's a rather off-the-wall view.
Thanks for the replies. It has always been an interesting question for me. Since Jesus and the apostles used the Septuagint I a wondered how the Masoretic text was used and not the LXX.
Excellent question. One that I've yet to see a good discussion on. There probrably is one; I just haven't seen it.
MJ's great discussion of early thinking demonstrates the differrence between a human 'well now, first must be best!!' (historical quote-ish; not MJ) vs a more theological 'which language best expresses the new covenant for good understanding' (emphasis on 'understanding').
Marcion very likely got it right ... everytime people zipped backwards in hebrew, they got in trouble. Of course, he too sort of got in trouble as well.
But having noticed the unusual parallels between Ugarit and the early church logic (ex: Jude and the late Paulines), I suspect he might have been right to advocate the Holy Ghost version.
It's not at all clear that Jesus used the LXX. What is clear is that the early church used the LXX. This is to be expected since our main source is Paul's writing. Paul went primarily to the gentiles, i.e., Greek-speaking peoples.
It is my understanding that Jews also used GReek a lot more than Hebrew or Aramaic in the post-dispersion, diaspora world - the days of all the Jews living together were over, I recall ( but don't remember where I read it) that 70% of the Jews spoke Greek natively in Jesus' time, and many didn't even know Herbew. It was the reason the Septuagint was created in part.
Thanks for the replies. It has always been an interesting question for me. Since Jesus and the apostles used the Septuagint I a wondered how the Masoretic text was used and not the LXX. It's not at all clear that Jesus used the LXX. What is clear is that the early church used the LXX. This is to be expected since our main source is Paul's writing. Paul went primarily to the gentiles, i.e., Greek-speaking peoples.
I thought I had read that Greek was the common language, so the LXX was what likely used by Jesus and the Apostles. I was going from memory, so I will to have to check my resources.
