Jumpstarter 4 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion

Question 4

Bercot says the apostles often quoted the Septuagint not merely for reader familiarity but because “the point…depended on the language of the Septuagint”; what does that suggest about how God guided the Church’s preaching—through abstract ideas, or through specific wordings that the apostles treated as decisive?

Another way to ask: Bercot says the apostles sometimes needed the Septuagint’s exact wording to make their point. Does that suggest God guided preaching through general ideas, or through specific words the apostles treated as key?

Direct Answer Based on Bercot’s teaching, God’s guidance of apostolic preaching was tied to specific, decisive wordings—not just general “ideas”—because the apostles’ arguments and Christ-centered proofs often depended on the Septuagint’s exact phrasing.

Support from Transcript:

He says the apostles didn’t quote the Septuagint “simply because it was the only Bible their readers were familiar with,” though that could be “one reason.”
He adds a stronger reason: “so many times the point they were getting across… is found only in the language of the Septuagint, not in the Masoretic text.”
He emphasizes this repeatedly: “so many Messianic prophecies turn on the language of the Septuagint.”
Against Jerome’s claim, Bercot states “the point the apostles were making so often depended upon the language of the Septuagint,” especially “when it disagrees with the Masoretic Text.”
He quantifies the pattern: where the texts differ, “80% of the time, Jesus and the Apostles go with the Septuagint.”

Discussion Follow-ups If apostolic preaching treated wording as decisive, what should that do to our willingness to dismiss translation/text differences as “no big deal” when the meaning shifts?

Jumpstarter 4 of 10

Add your phone number?

Thank you!

Jumpstarter 4 of 10