Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 2
The speaker claims the Septuagint was “the Bible of the apostles and the New Testament Christians,” noting that “90% of the Old Testament quotations in the New Testament are taken out of the Septuagint”; how does that claim challenge the way you were taught to think about “the Old Testament text behind our Bible,” and what would it change about how you argue doctrine from Scripture?
Another way to ask: If most New Testament quotes of the Old Testament come from the Septuagint, how does that challenge what you were taught about the “real” Old Testament text? How might it change how you use Scripture to support doctrine?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests this challenges the assumption that the Masoretic-based Protestant Old Testament is automatically the default “Christian” text. If apostles and early Christians relied mainly on the Septuagint, it would push us to weigh Septuagint readings more seriously when building doctrine or interpreting NT quotations.
- He defines the Septuagint as “the Greek translation of the Old Testament… made… in the second century before Christ.”
- He calls it “the Bible of the apostles and the New Testament Christians,” grounding that in his statistic: “90% of the Old Testament quotations in the New Testament are taken out of the Septuagint.”
- He notes Protestant OT usually follows the Masoretic text and has “only 39 books,” while the Septuagint canon has “46,” a “difference of seven books.”
- He explains a practical interpretive problem: NT quotes “often… doesn’t fit” the OT in “most Bibles… because Paul’s quoting from the Septuagint.”
- In the Q&A, a listener connects this directly: “If that’s the Bible Jesus used and taught out of, how come we would use anything else?” and David agrees.