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Unraveling the Mystery of the Old Testament Canon

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Unraveling the Mystery of the Old Testament Canon '.i rr:c $16:fr'ref , !L 1. ) tr, /LL , J.,t, - \t1ft, I \ryTI(}DH,Cil}E,S? Unraveling the Mystery of the Olcl Testament Canon to limit the their owlt faith for the Pharisees hcgitn. there ample. the Dead Sea scrolls, cotltaining rcn thc Chtrlclr tlrc books tlrey witnted to iltclude in thcir 'l'estatneltt saciecl tcxts ol lhc Esscrrc scct of 'ltrdaisrrt' were rlo New citlloll. Like the early ' Masorctic, Sanrari- revisccl Ilebrew Old'I'estarnent texts show evidencc tl['tltc hooks. Church, ihe Jews of Christ's tiure were not tan, antl [.,XX text bases. alortc wcrc trscd irs ScriP- particular set ol texts (be- the lall of Jerusaletn united atottncl a Testament used in the early tlowever. with ture. l-he Okl pro- yoncl the Tbrah, that is). They were orga- Rouran world was in AD 70. an intense stattdardization Cltrrch throughout the irized around a liturgical life in the temple cess begatr. Only the Pharisee ancl the not tlre l{ebrew Old Testametlt, Llut a trans- liturgical life, they survived this ancl synagogue' For this Testament into Creek Samaritirn sects of Judaistn lation of the Olcl 'lestatnent came to use texts in the services' However' 'Ihe process. 'l'he collection of Old callccl the Septtragint (LXX)' LXX the production bccrrrne thc the liturgical life prececled Alexarldria cluritrg lhc irooks into wltat cvcttttlally ' s as trlttrslatctl in of the texts ancl formed their conteit' [Iis- in the Masoletic text was begun by thc l)harisees reign of Ptolerlry II Philadelplltts as the .lewish faith cleveloped in Ctlttttcil ttl'.larrrnia, stttltcwhcte be- torically, rnitkllc ol'the thircl ccntury l].L-', artd was at thc worsltip tltrr' rto[ ctlltt- llrc syrttgogucs lttrcl itt tcrnple 'l'estament in thc syna- twccrt Al) tlO and 100, btrt was the standard Old ing thc: postcxilic periocl (thc fotrr to tivc plctccl urrtil thc sixtlr ccllttlry' l)trrirrg this gogues throughout the tlellenistic world preccding the cotttitts ol' Sirach, which was hun.lrci ycars the time of Christ' periocl, T'he Wistlorn of (including Palestine) at Messiah), texts callle to be used itr rvor- in eventually exclucled frorn the Masoretic In addition to the books included Psalnrs) and teaching' As includcd in tlre 'lew- ship (e.g., the Olcl l'estament, the ['XX text, was sotnetimes ctlllectitlrt ol' a Protestant ot'Songs' nrcntiorrcd abtlve, thc exact othcr books now ish canon, while Ploverbs, Sortg contairted a number of texts vlttictl tlcpcrltlirlg ott lltt' scct' or Ecclcsiastcs, atrtl Estlrct', all ol'whitlt cvctt- cornmonly referred to as Apocrypha with the loss ol'tlrdir cctttcr that text' were some- llorvever, of these books are tuall)' {irund a place in Deuterocanonical' Some iu Jerusalenr and of unifiecl tertlple u'or- a longer times exclttded. 1bbit. .ltrditlt. Maccahees, atttl (after AD 70), prcserving the Jewilsh 'l'hc Jcws watttcd a statrtlarclizccl Ilc- ship versiott of Daniel. greater standardization' The Teqtarn,:nt partly be- faiih recluirecl 'Ihe orl a very diflereltt brew text of the Old LXX is based Jews coulcl no longer atford divisions if frotr-r the causc oI tlre large nutnber of Christian text of the Old Testattleltt were to survive as a people"I'hus' they 'l-hc olcler LXX versit'n ol the Old they text. ou u'hicll trlo''lct'n Ilnglish .lews. texts Nlasoretic pas- needecl a collection oI unprobletnatic itt Testatnent corrtained ntany rnessianic tllttisllt{iotls ltte hlsctl. Fol itlstltttce' in their now dispersed population thc (-hristiarrs cottld tlire to con- lo use plrtccs the' rvttrtlirlg is qtritc tlil'l'ct' sugcs tlrat rrccdcll nttur' ltt arrd syrragogttc-ottly worship'l'hey clil- vincc .lcws that Jcstls was tho N{cssialr' ent. irnd the contcnt ol thc lrooks also use within their comlntl- charged that the to elirninate the lext is longer' but fact, lhe early Christitrns fers-generally the LXX nities of texts useful to those rvhorn tlrey Pharisees hacl delibelately truncated the there are also interesting adtlititlns to the heretics (e'g', Christians' to avoicl messianic prophecy point- consiclered Nlasoretic text that are not found in the canon Particularly' (see Jtrstin Mar- Gnosticst anci Hellenizers)' the LXX is based ing towarcl Jelus Christ LXX. The text on which tlrey cli.l not lvattt to use in their services I 3). ty r-,' l'r1' 1 tl n 1 is as itncieltt as tllc Masorclic tcxt' as testi- -7 corrld ttse to de ttl- irr thc LXX texis thrrt tlre Chlistians scrolls and rnany Irirr instance, Isaialr 7:14 lied by the Dead Sea onstrate tlrat Jestrs C'lrrist is tlte Messialt says, "A vilgirr slrall cottccivc alttl bcar a 'li's- other ancient witnesses. by the' Prophels of the Otd soir"-this cleally rcl'ers to thc Virgirl Ilirtlt pronrisctl cantltt. or list o[ accepted texts' of the Messiah. Otl tlte othcr harld' tlte tnurcnt.'l'ltc A Standardized Jewish Text produced as their standard is versiotr ol Isaiah touttd in the that tlie Jews was quite fluid at the tirne of Pharisees' the LXX and Judaisrn ir "young sigrrilicantly shorter than distinct sects o[ Masoretic text only tnentitlt.ts Christ. There were seven to be kttown as the Masoretic text' wotuatt." Moreovcr, tnany ol tlte wisdom carrte the Jews in the early first century, accord- the l)euterocanonical Lrooks' to Eusebius' 'l'he different sects ac- texts from ing used What ls the Christian Old Testament? colIectiotrs partictrlarly Sir"ach, were tomt'it'nly ccptecl the authority ol' dill-erent clislinctiott between tlte Jewish ver- Clhurch as catcclrctical reading lbr This of books (e.g., the Sacl'lucees atttl Sarttitri- ty thc (Hebrew is not strrprising lhat the sion ol the Old Tesr.antent larts ilcceptc(l only the l'ive lrooks ol' the cirnvclts. lt versittn to cxcltldc tltcsc Mastlrctic tcxt) and the Christian Toralr), atlcl tlterc werc I'hatisees wottltl watrt Prophet N'loses. the of the Olcl'Iestarnent (Greek LXX) would itt the cotn- "Church texts" lrotn their oft'icial llet-rrew often significant clifl-erenccs have been a seriolts concern for the versiotr of the Old Testiiment' not position of the books they accepted in com- the growing set an exact Church if it hadn't been for sect rlright evetl Since the Jews had never Iuon. Soluetitues the sirlue the Latin-speaking Church in nulnber ol books in the Old separation of use of rnultiple text bases, o[ as limit on the make with the Western Rotttan Etnpire from the traditions' For ex- Testautent. it was not inconsistent scholars call them, text - :.:. AGA1N MAGAZI}'' i 8 oRl-HOD0X ROMAN CATHOLIC PROTESTANT OLD TESTAMENT OLS TESTAMENT OLD TESTAMENT (icnesis Ilv Duniel l-ieuwen (ierresi s Ce ncsis lixodus Uxotlus Iixodus l.eviticrrs Lcviticus I-evi ticus Grcck-speaking Church in the llast. In the Nunrbers Nurnbers Numbers I)euteronomy l'il'th ccntury. Sl. .lerortte proclLrcecl what Deuterortonty Deuteronorny Joshua .loshua Joshua version the becanrc the standard Latin of Judges Judges Judges 'fcstanrcnt. Old Ilowcvcr. ins(catl o[ bas- I{uth Rullt Rulh ing his translatiort on the LXX, St. Jcrotttc I Kirrg<krnrs (= I Sarrrucl) I Kings I Satnucl (= 2 Kings 2 Samuel rroved to Jerusirlern, lived with a Jewish 2 Kingtlonrs 2 Samuel) 3 Kingtlonrs (= I Kirrgs) 3 Kings I Kings {'arnily to learn Hebrew, and lranslated the 4 Kingdorls (= 2 Kings) 4 Kings 2 Kings Old "fcstarrrcnt basecl ott att early versiott I Paraliponrenon (= | Llhloniclcs) I Parulipotnenotr (or Cltronic!es) I Chronicles ol' tlrc lllasorctic tcxt. 2 Palalipotrre notr (= 2 (.lhroniclcs) | 2 ['irralipottrcnorr (or Clrronicles) 2 Chronicles I Esdras Jerorne's translation, togetltcr with a i 2 Esdras 2 t I Esdras Ezra translation ol the New Testaruent into Nehenriah 2 Esdras Nehemiah l-atin. canre to be calletl the Vulgate arrcl Tobit Tobit irrcluderl Juditlr Jucli th nrost ol tlre Deute rocattottical. or 3 [.]sthcr Ilstlrcr Eslher ,\pocrvphal, books ol' tlre Old'l'cstatttcrtt, I Maccabces I Mlcclrhecs lrut scparlted tlrcnt ll'ottt the rcst. lt illso 2 Maccabees 2 Maccabccs prcsc'rved many ol the Christological 3 Maccabccs a Psalms prophecies rvlriclt later versiotts ol tlte Psahns Psal r ns Job .lolr Job I\lasorctic text But becausc was onlit. it Proverhs ol Sokrnron I)roreLbs of Solomon Proverbs of Solonron t.rascd orr a text traditiurr diff'ercnt lbnr that Ecclcsi rrslcs Ilcclcsiastes Ecclesinstes Song ol'Solotuon of thc LXX, sigrril'icant clil'('e lerrces bc- Asnrrr I t'arrlicle ol' Can(icles) Carrticle ol Clanticlcs oI Solonttu t*,cen lhe Vulgate Old l'estalr)cltt and thc' Wisdorr ol-Sol<lrrron Wisdo:rr Wisclonr ol Sirach Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) are evident. i-XX Hoseir I losca llosea Throughout the Middle Ages, the Amos Anxrs Anros [-atin Vulgate u'as the standarcl trarrslatiorr Micah Micah Micah Joel of the Old Testament used in {he West. Joel Jocl Obadiah Obadiah Obadiah rlhile thc LXX remained the starrdard in Jonah Jonah Jonah the East. While the Nerv Testarne rtt of tlte Nahum Nahurn Nahurn earliest versions of the Vulgate is vely Ilabakkuk Habakkuk Habakkuk Zephaniah Zephaniah Zephaniah sirnilar to lhc Greek Ncrv Testirrnelrt used I laggai I laggai l{aggai bv lhe Eastern Clhurches. the Old Testa- Zechariah Zechariah Zechariah rur-nts cliflerecl soutcu ltat. But lhis r"licl not Malachi Malachi Malachi presenl a significant problerl fol tlre Isaiah Isaiah Isaiah Jerenr iah Jr:rerrriah Jeremiah Church at that tinrc. Baruch Baruch (incl. Epistle of Jeretniah) The Western Council of ilippo (393) Epistle ol.lererniah rvas protrably the I'irst council to specil'y LamentnliC)ns l,arneiltatiol)s I-anlentations the linrits o[ the New f'estament carron, and Ezekiel Ezekiel Ezekiel Daniel Daniel Daniel 5 it accepted the trventy-seven-book cancltr 4 Maccabees 6 that u'e have today, allowing only these Inclucling the Prayer oI Manasseh.
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