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Question 8
When Paul tells Timothy “from childhood you have known the holy Scriptures” (2 Tim. 3:15–17), Bercot insists Timothy’s Scriptures would have been the Septuagint; how does that claim challenge the way modern Christians use 2 Timothy 3 to defend a particular Old Testament base text, and what practical difference would it make in how you evaluate Old Testament quotations in the New Testament?
Another way to ask: If Timothy’s “holy Scriptures” were the Septuagint, how does that challenge how people use 2 Timothy 3 to defend one specific Old Testament text? What practical difference would it make in how you judge Old Testament quotes in the New Testament?

Direct Answer Bercot’s claim challenges using 2 Timothy 3 as a proof-text for the Masoretic text as the default “inspired” Old Testament, since Paul’s statement would have referred to the Septuagint Timothy knew; practically, it pushes Christians to take Septuagint-based NT quotations seriously rather than assuming the Masoretic wording is the standard.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot asks what Scriptures Timothy knew “from childhood” and answers: “Surely it was the Septuagint,” since Timothy was from Greek-speaking Galatia and had a Greek father.
  • He says Jewish use in Galatia is confirmed because Paul quotes the Septuagint to the Galatians (Gal. 3:13 “hangs on a tree”), which matches the Septuagint of Deut. 21:23; the Masoretic has “No mention… of a tree.”
  • He concludes: “when Paul told Timothy that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, he was specifically speaking about the Septuagint.”
  • He clarifies he is “not denying to the Masoretic text the title of the Word of God,” but both are “man’s imperfect copies of God’s Perfect Word.”
  • He calls Paul’s words to Timothy a “very strong apostolic endorsement” of the Septuagint.
Discussion Follow-ups If 2 Timothy 3 originally affirmed the Septuagint in Timothy’s life, should our default assumptions about OT quotations in the NT change when wording conflicts with the Masoretic?

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