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Question 7

The lesson claims Jesus Himself quoted the Septuagint (Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15; Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21; Isaiah 61:1 in Luke 4, including “recovery of sight to the blind”); how does the idea that Jesus publicly read and argued from the Septuagint confront modern instincts that the “original Hebrew” must always be the superior or more faithful text?

Another way to ask: If Jesus quoted and read from the Septuagint in public, how does that challenge the idea that the “original Hebrew” is always the best or most faithful version?

Direct Answer Bercot’s point confronts the instinct by showing Jesus treated the Septuagint wording as authoritative in public teaching, even when it differed from the Masoretic form, implying “faithfulness” is not automatically identical with the later Hebrew-based text used in most modern Bibles.

Support from Transcript:

In Matthew 15:7–9, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 ending with “in vain do they worship me,” which matches the Septuagint; Bercot says the Masoretic ending is “not even a similar thought.”
In Matthew 21:16, Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 as “perfected praise,” while the Masoretic has “ordained strength”; the Septuagint matches Jesus.
In Luke 4:17–18, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1 including “recovery of sight to the blind,” which Bercot says is “entirely missing in the Masoretic text.”
He argues this happened “in the synagogue,” implying a public, official setting.
He concludes: “So even there in the synagogue, Jesus was reading from the Septuagint.”

Discussion Follow-ups If Jesus used a translation with providential features, how should that shape our attitude toward translations today and toward appeals to “the Hebrew says”?

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