I hope you will journey with me in rediscovering the beauty of God’s Word in the Septuagint (LXX). In 285 BC, the LXX was translated from paleo-Hebrew by 70 Jewish translators into Greek, the language of most of the civilized world at that time. Due to its pre-Christ and pre-fall of Jerusalem date, the LXX cannot be accused of being influenced by any underlying animosity toward Christ or Christianity or desire to elevate Judaism’s claim to God’s blessings or the promised land. Most Christians believe the Masoretic Text (MT), upon which our English Old Testament is based, is written in the original Hebrew, but it too is a translation from the ancient and by then dead paleo-Hebrew Phoenician pictograph script into the modern Hebrew block script derived from Aramaic. The Masoretes completed it between 600 t0 1000 AD, by which time the Jews had become hostile to the Christian message, which shows up in various omissions, changes, and obfuscations of verses and passages that clearly point to Christ in the LXX.
Jesus taught us that all scripture points to him (John 5:39). As a rule, the Septuagint more clearly points to Jesus than does the MT.
In the West, Christians have not questioned the MT since Jerome chose it as the basis for his Latin Vulgate Old Testament. The Eastern Orthodox Church, to their credit, never deviated from the Septuagint, preserving it for later generations to rediscover. Because of the power of tradition, it is quite difficult for many of us in the West to think of the LXX as being more trustworthy than the MT, but I have found that a side-by-side comparison indicates otherwise.
In this series of articles, I have undertaken to illustrate the similarities and differences between the MT and LXX by examining various passages. Below is another example. The Septuagint version I am using is the Lexham English Septuagint 2nd Edition. It is available in print or digitally through Logos Bible Software. Occasionally I reference Brenton’s translation, which is a good one, but the English is somewhat dated.
| Masoretic Text | Septuagint | Significance |
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1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) |
1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, on account of which he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal those who are crushed in heart, to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, Isaiah 61:1 (LES2) |
This seems to be a deliberate suppression of one of the most important signs that pointed to Jesus’ being the Messiah, the healing of blind eyes. There are two differences worth noting in this verse. The first is that the LXX says that this anointed one was “sent” to bring good news (the gospel message) to the poor. The NT calls Jesus a “sent one” or “apostle” of the New Covenant. (Hebrews 3:1) Jesus was sent to earth by his heavenly Father to offer himself as the Lamb of God for the forgiveness of our sins and to recapture the authority Adam ceded to Satan. Likewise, Jesus “sent” his church to announce the good news of his victory to all who would listen and believe. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:21–22 (NKJV) The second even more significant difference is that the LXX says this anointed one was sent to announce “recovery of sight to the blind.” This is not the only place in Isaiah where this coming sign was mentioned. 2 And the desolate places of the Jordan will blossom and rejoice. The glory of Lebanon was given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people will see the glory of the Lord and the exaltation of God. 3 Be strong, hands at ease and feeble knees! 4 Give comfort, fainthearted in mind! Be strong; do not be frightened! Look, our God is repaying judgment, and he will repay! He himself will come and save us! 5 Then blind people’s eyes will be opened, and dumb people’s ears will hear. Isaiah 35:2–5 (LES2) In this case, the MT agrees with the LXX in saying the blind and dumb will be healed when God will visit his people, both of which were fulfilled by Jesus. Perhaps because this verse was not so conspicuously quoted as a proof of Jesus’ messiahship is why it was left intact. When Jesus stood in the synagogue in Capernaum at the outset of his public ministry, he read this verse aloud and claimed it applied to him personally. 18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18 (NKJV) The healing of the blind by Jesus was specifically mentioned in five distinct episodes in the gospels. (Matthew 9:27-31, Matthew 12:22, which was also mentioned in Luke 11:14, Mark 8:22-26, John 9:1-41, and Matthew 20:29-34, which is also mentioned in the other two synoptic gospels – Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43). In addition, healing the blind was mentioned in three different summaries of Jesus’ ministry – Matthew 15:30-31, Matthew 21:14, and Luke 7:21-22. Since healing the blind was so remarkable and rare, it served as a primary credential for Jesus’ claim to be the promised one. It is no wonder the Masoretes would wish to cover it up some 1000 years later. Someone might at this point contend that the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran agrees with the MT. That does not undo the Holy Spirit’s and Jesus’ choice to quote the LXX, proving it is indeed the inspired Word of God. In addition, it is important to remember that there is no chain of custody proving the antiquity, authorship, and credibility of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some doubt that they are as ancient as claimed. Even if they are “genuine articles,” it does not prove inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Anything written in the NT, however, is the “official” Word of God. The only other comment I have is to note that Jesus’ quote in Luke 4:18 also adds at the end, “To set at liberty those who are oppressed.” This not the same as the phrase the MT uses to replace the healing of the blind – “the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” I personally think the Holy Spirit added this phrase to Jesus’ quote to point to his setting demonized people free from that horrible oppression, such as when he healed the woman bound by a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. (Luke 13:10-17) |
Conclusion
If you want to know more about why Christians should prefer the Septuagint to the MT, click on this link. In another article, I share some of the things I have so far learned by making this comparison. As for me, I now prefer the LXX. It was Paul’s and the other apostles’ standard for Old Covenant truth, was used by synagogues in Jesus’s day, and is most often quoted in the New Testament. That makes it good enough for me.
