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Will the Theologians Please Sit Down  /  Chapter 19: Exposing the Blindness of Theologians  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 8
He says to know what a word meant “to the New Testament writers and their readers,” we should prioritize Koine-era sources—especially the Septuagint and second-century Christian writings—yet he claims commentators are “abysmally ignorant” of the Septuagint; what does that imply about how God intended the first Christians to understand apostolic teaching, and why might modern evangelical training neglect the Septuagint?
Another way to ask: If we should use Koine-era sources like the Septuagint to understand New Testament words, what does that suggest about how God expected the first Christians to understand the apostles? Why do you think many modern evangelicals might ignore the Septuagint?

Direct Answer The transcript implies the first Christians were meant to understand the apostles through the shared vocabulary and thought-world of the Septuagint and the living Christian language of the early church. Bercot doesn’t explain exactly why modern training neglects the Septuagint, but he strongly asserts many commentators simply aren’t familiar with it.

Support from Transcript:

  • He says the key question is what words meant “to the New Testament writers and their readers.”
  • Because there were “no Greek dictionaries written in ancient times,” we must examine usage in ancient sources.
  • He names three sources: “classical Greek texts,” “the Septuagint,” and “the early Christian writings… particularly… the second century.”
  • He argues classics have limits: different style (Koine vs. polished classics), time gap, and biblical writers used words differently.
  • He calls the Septuagint “far more valuable”: it’s Koine, closer in time, and “the Old Testament of the first-century church.”
  • Quote from a Greek scholar: “without the Septuagint, there could have been no New Testament… its vehicle of language… patterns of thought.”
  • He claims “most New Testament commentators… are abysmally ignorant about the Septuagint… most… have never read it.”
Discussion Follow-ups If the Septuagint shaped apostolic vocabulary, should it shape ours when interpreting? What might be lost when we read the New Testament without the Old Testament wording that first Christians were “steeped in”?

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