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First Bible of the Church (JSOT Supplement)
by: Mogens Muller
Product Information
Condition: New
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Mogens Muller
Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press (January 1996)
ISBN: 185075571X
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Muller challenges theological claims for the superiority of the Hebrew text of the Bible based on the early Church's preference for the Greek version called the Septuagint. He begins by distinguishing between recognition of a text's 'sacred character' and the 'final fixation of its wording,' contending that while the 'sacred character' of the Hebrew canon was established early (second century BC), the Hebrew wording was still in flux as late as the third century AD. Furthermore, the Septuagint was widely accepted by both pre-Christian Jews and second- to fourth-century Christians. Christian theologians elevated the status of the Septuagint to the point where 'it was not only acknowledged as an inspired translation--a kind of variant of the Hebrew Bible--but it came to be regarded more as a revelation.' Concerning the dispute between Jerome and Augustine over different versions of the Bible, Muller concludes that Jerome's partiality to the Hebrew was more philological, while Augustine's reasons centered on inspiration and tradition. He applauds the dynamism of the Septuagint translation, which does not always render passages word-for-word, arguing for its faithfulness to ancient translation technique. Our historical knowledge, he concludes, 'must lead to our questioning the matter-of-fact way in which we have, by tradition, understood the Biblia Hebraica as the original text of the Old Testament' while ignoring the early Church's near-universal acceptance of the Greek Septuagint.
Muller challenges theological claims for the superiority of the Hebrew text of the Bible based on the early Church's preference for the Greek version called the Septuagint. He begins by distinguishing between recognition of a text's 'sacred character' and the 'final fixation of its wording,' contending that while the 'sacred character' of the Hebrew canon was established early (second century BC), the Hebrew wording was still in flux as late as the third century AD. Furthermore, the Septuagint was widely accepted by both pre-Christian Jews and second- to fourth-century Christians. Christian theologians elevated the status of the Septuagint to the point where 'it was not only acknowledged as an inspired translation--a kind of variant of the Hebrew Bible--but it came to be regarded more as a revelation.' Concerning the dispute between Jerome and Augustine over different versions of the Bible, Muller concludes that Jerome's partiality to the Hebrew was more philological, while Augustine's reasons centered on inspiration and tradition. He applauds the dynamism of the Septuagint translation, which does not always render passages word-for-word, arguing for its faithfulness to ancient translation technique. Our historical knowledge, he concludes, 'must lead to our questioning the matter-of-fact way in which we have, by tradition, understood the Biblia Hebraica as the original text of the Old Testament' while ignoring the early Church's near-universal acceptance of the Greek Septuagint.
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