Old Testament Source Bible

Jus finished reading John Barton's "The Word" on Bible translation. A bit dry in parts but generally a great deal of interest. In his penultimate chapter he points out that some aspects of Christian belief (the afterlife, salvation and more) are expressed more clearly in the Greek Septuagint than in the Hebrew Bible. He says that for most Christians before the Reformation the Old Testament was the Septuagint and of course it included the deutero-canonical books (Apocrypha) as well as longer versions of books such as Esther and Sirach than the Hebrew Bible. It was also the text that the gospel writers quoted in the NT. Very tongue-in-cheek he asks if modern translations are right to think of the Hebrew text as the OT source. I hope I haven't misreprented him. I've never really thought of this aspect before. The nearest I've got to Hebrew is reading some of Alter's comments.

The Word

Discussions over whether to use the Hebrew (which Hebrew?), the Septuagint, and/or other translations have been going on since ancient times. But this sounds interesting.

I tried to learn Hebrew several years ago, and it is very different from the various Indo-European languages I have worked with.

Ideally a Christian ought to be equally familiar with both the Hebrew Torah and Tanakh and the Greek Septuagint, and understand how each was received by its various audiences at various points in time. But given the general level of Biblical literacy found in most churches (at least in the U.S.), that seems a bit ambitious. For the purpose of the sort of devotional reading that represents how most U.S. Christians approach the Old Testament, I don't think the differences between the two sources are significant enough to make much of a difference.

>1 PossMan: Picked up my copy at the bookstore today.

>4 MarthaJeanne:: Hope you find something of interest as I did.

Just read the introduction and first chapter. Wow!

>1 PossMan: Thank you so much for introducing me to this.

I can't say that I found a lot of material new to me here, but it is so well organised and expressed that I have to give the book 5*.

You were intrigued by the chapter on 'Which Bible?'. Well, when I went off to college, the Bible I took with me was a study Bible that included the Apocrypha. (Tobit remains a real favourite of mine, as well as some of the wisdom literature.) I own copies of both the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint, although my attempts to learn both Greek and Hebrew have been less than successful. Still, they get pulled out now and again when I need insight into specific verses. Barton comes out stronger on the Greek side than I would myself, but I agree that it is important to recognize the issue.

I read a lot in translation. Recently a lot of early Christian books written in Latin. My Latin is almost as bad as my Greek. But I also read a lot of nonfiction written in English in German translation. Well, when the library has it, and I don't have to order it and pay for it. Usually this works. I also just read two short books by Annie Ernaux. Sonja Finck did an excellent job of keeping the French quality of the books transparent. So even without the Bible, translation is something I think about a lot.

I just love it when I read something that takes an issue I have thought about and gives me a new, better way of expressing what I couldn't quite say myself. I think every chapter of this book did that for me.

>7 MarthaJeanne:: Pleased you got something out of it. Like you I had a try at NT Greek -- enough to make more sense out of some of the comments/footnotes in bible commentaries. I had a very nice 2 volume edition of the Septuagint with very clear text and about half of every page take up with vocabulary help. But I recently got rid of it knowing I was never going to make proper use of it. I very recently got hold of Sarah Ruden's "The Gospels" but haven't had a chance to look at it properly.

Another thanks. Due to Barton's comments I ordered The Bible for Everyone. I am familiar with Wright's NT, but was very curious about Goldingay's OT translation. It recently arrived, and I have started reading Genesis. It feels like reading something new, in spite of being so familiar.

>8 PossMan: I was looking for something else on the library shelves and saw Ruden’s The Gospels. I was impressed by her interpretation of Paul, so I brought it home. I’m enjoying her introduction, but I haven’t decided whether to read the entire book yet.

>10 2wonderY:: I've had Ruden on my TBR shelf for 2 to 3 weeks but haven't looked at it yet. I seem to be buying books faster than I can read.

Ruden, The Gospels

I may have to order this, too. But perhaps Paul Among the People first.

>12 MarthaJeanne: Tried to order two Ruden books today, but they seem to be out of print.

ETA I was able to order them through Amazon. So much for trying to support local bookstores.

Paul Among the People arrived on Thursday, and I have just started it. So far I am really pleased.

>15 MarthaJeanne: Really enjoyed Paul among the People. Looking forward to The Face of Water! and I have now ordered The Gospels and Lysistrata.