www.youtube.com/watch?v=g898idlzzXw
Comparing the Septuagint
and the Masoretic Using Matthew 1-3
Post-Apostolic Church
REVIEWING THE PROBLEM WITH THE SEPTUAGINT
Welcome to this continuing series on the
Septuagint. Before going through the New
Testament and comparing Old Testament quotations to the Hebrew Masoretic and
the Greek Septuagint, there is one important thing to address. In the third video about the Notable Differences between the Masoretic and the
Septuagint, we looked at the only known problem with the Septuagint: that the
genealogy of Genesis 5 places Methuselah’s death 14 years after the Flood. After sharing that video, I had two viewers
point out something important of which I was unaware.
In the first video, we talked about the three
families of manuscripts: the Masoretic, the Septuagint, and the Samaritan. Remember that within each family, there are
manuscripts that are different. It turns out that one of the
differences in the Septuagint family of manuscripts is found in Gen 5:25. The Septuagint found at the Vatican Vatican Alexandria
So according to the Alexandrian Septuagint,
Methusaleh died 6 years before the Flood and not 14 years after the Flood as
the Vatican Septuagint states. And so,
the only problem with the Septuagint is not even a problem at all for the
Alexandrian Septuagint! In the end,
there are no known problems with the Greek Septuagint while the known problems with the Masoretic Old Testament
still remain. To review what those are,
feel free to watch that portion of the third video in this series.
INTRO
Now that we have cleared up this important
aspect of the Septuagint, let’s continue comparing the Hebrew Masoretic with
the Greek Septuagint by going through the New Testament and seeing which
manuscript family the writers used when quoting from the Old Testament.
For the New Testament readings and the Hebrew
Masoretic readings, I will use the American Standard Version which is a very
accurate translation of both. For the
Greek Septuagint readings, I will use Brenton’s Translation which is a very
accurate translation of the Septuagint.
And since these translations were published less than sixty years apart
(between 1901 and 1844, respectively), their readings should be similar.
As we go through each passage, we will keep a
running count of the family of manuscripts and number of verses which the New
Testament writers followed.
MATTHEW 1:23
Matthew 1:23 is about the prophecy that
predicts Christ’s birth. It reads,
Behold, the virgin
shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Immanuel. (Matt 1:23 (ASV))
This verse was already discussed in the
previous video. Click here for
information about it. As we saw, Matthew
is following the Septuagint’s reading of Isaiah 7:14.
[Verses:
1. LXX: 1. MT: 0.]
MATTHEW 2:6
Matthew 2:6 is about what the chief priests
and scribes told Herod when he asked them where the Christ would be born. It reads,
And you, Bethlehem,
land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you
shall come forth a governor, who shall be shepherd of my people Israel. (Matt 2:6 (ASV))
This is a quotation from Micah 5:2. The Masoretic reads,
But you, Bethlehem
Ephrathah, which is little to be among the thousands of Judah , out of you shall one come unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel
The Masoretic mentions “Ephrathah” instead of
“the land of Judah Bethlehem
was the geographical name, Ephrathah was probably the ethnic name* for the
people of the Bethlehem
[* See
Ruth 1:2, 1Sam 17:12]
The Septuagint reads,
And you, Bethlehem , house of Ephrathah, are few in number to be
reckoned among the thousands of Judah ;
yet out of you shall one come forth to me, to be a ruler of Israel
Amazingly, the Septuagint’s reading is just
like the Masoretic’s reading except it says “few in number” when the Masoretic
says “little.”
Matthew is indeed using Micah 5:2, but his
reading is not really following the Masoretic or the Septuagint! Just as there are differences between English
translations today, there were differences between manuscripts back then. It is possible that Matthew is using a
manuscript with the genuine reading but which has since been lost. Neither the Septuagint nor the Masoretic will
be counted on this verse.
[Verses:
2. LXX: 1. MT: 0.]
MATTHEW 2:15
Matthew 2:15 is about when Joseph and Mary
fled to Egypt
Out of Egypt
This is a
quotation from Hosea 11:1. The Masoretic reads,
I called my son out of Egypt
The
Masoretic reads the same though the order is different. The Septuagint reads,
Out of Egypt
The Septuagint says “his” instead of “my” and
“children” instead of “son.” So while
Matthew follows the Septuagint’s order, he follows the Masoretic’s words. Of the manuscript families we have today, it is too hard to tell which one
Matthew is following. Like in the
previous quotation, Matthew might be using an ancient manuscript that has since
been lost, but more likely, he is simply and purposefully switching the Masoretic’s
order of Hosea 11:1. Let’s say that
Matthew is following the Masoretic.
[Verses:
3. LXX: 1. MT: 1.]
MATTHEW 2:18
Matthew 2:18 is about the mothers whose children
were killed by Herod. It reads,
A voice was heard in
Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she
would not be comforted, because they are not.
(Matt 2:18 (ASV))
This
brings up another difference in New Testament manuscripts. The Alexandrian family of manuscripts, which
the American Standard Version and most modern translations use, lists two kinds
of sadness. The Byzantine family, which
include translations such as the New King James, include a third word here, “lamentation.” This difference in New Testament manuscripts
probably exists because of the difference in Old Testament manuscripts, which
we are about to see.
This quotation
is from Jeremiah 31:15. The Masoretic reads,
A voice is heard in
Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children; she
refuses to be comforted for them, because they are no more. (Jer 31:15 (ASV))
The Masoretic lists two kinds of sadness which
agrees with the Alexandrian family of New Testament manuscripts but disagrees
with the Byzantine family of manuscripts.
Because the Septuagint has a different order
of the chapters in Jeremiah, this quotation is from chapter 38 verse 15. It reads,
A voice was heard in
Ramah, of lamentation, and of weeping, and wailing; Rachel would not cease
weeping for her children, because they are not.
(Jer 38:15 (Brenton))
The Septuagint’s three kinds of sadness are a
bit different. It agrees with the
Byzantine family of New Testament manuscripts but disagrees with the
Alexandrian family of manuscripts. Also, it does not speak about
refusing comfort, but instead that Rachel just won’t stop weeping. Matthew’s quotation is mostly identical to the Septuagint. Though Matthew does not quote either precisely,
it seems that he more closely follows the Masoretic.
[Verses:
4. LXX: 1. MT: 2.]
MATTHEW 2:23
Matthew 2:23 is about how Joseph settled in Nazareth
He should be called a
Nazarene. (Matt 2:23 (ASV))
Incredibly, the Old Testament passage that
Matthew is quoting is completely unknown!
Jerome wrote that he believed Matthew was using Isaiah 11:1. There, the Hebrew word is netser
which is translated “branch” or “shoot,” as in,
A shoot out of the
stock of Jesse, and a BRANCH out of his roots shall bear fruit. (Is 11:1 (ASV))
Jerome
was confident that this word should be rendered “Nazarene.”
(http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.v.LVII.html,
end of paragraph 7)
Sadly,
since Matthew’s quotation cannot be found in today’s Masoretic or in today’s
Septuagint, I will say that he follows neither.
Maybe Matthew was using
Isaiah 11:1, maybe he used some other Old Testament passage that has since been
lost, or maybe Matthew is not trying to quote the Old Testament but is showing
the truth about Jesus’ hometown while poking fun at his contemporary, so-called
“prophets” who were giving Nazareth a bad reputation in that day. (See John 1:45-46.)
[Verses: 5. LXX: 1.
MT: 2.]
HOW DO WE STAND SO FAR?
Thus far, we have looked at the first two
chapters of Matthew. Matthew 2:6 didn’t
follow either manuscript family, and Matthew 2:23 isn’t found in any Old
Testament. Right now we have one verse
that follows the Septuagint, two verses that follow the Masoretic, and two verses
that didn’t follow either. Things aren’t
looking so well, but from here on, we will start to see a general pattern in
how the New Testament writers will favor the Septuagint over the Masoretic.
MATTHEW 3:3
Matthew 3:3 is about John the Baptist. It reads,
The voice of one crying
in the wilderness: make you ready the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. (Matt 3:3 (ASV))
This is a
quotation from Isaiah 40:3. The Masoretic reads,
The voice of one that
cries: Prepare you in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the
desert a highway for our God. (Is 40:3 (ASV))
The Masoretic says that the wilderness is
where the way needs to be prepared while Matthew says that the wilderness is
where the person will be crying out. The Masoretic speaks about
building a highway in the desert while Matthew says people need to make
straight ways for God’s paths.
The Septuagint reads,
The voice of one crying
in the wilderness: Prepare you the way of the Lord; make straight the paths of
our God. (Is 40:3 (Brenton))
The only difference here is that the
Septuagint says “of our God” while Matthew says “Him.” Matthew more closely follows the Septuagint’s
reading.
[Verses:
6. LXX: 2. MT: 2.]
CONCLUSION
That is enough for now. We will continue looking at New Testament
quotations from the Old Testament next year.
Blessings
and so forth.
