Contents

Bible Talk

Hopefully our “Ancient Jewish Literature” biblical study will help answer some of these questions if the reader has little or no familiarity with ancient Jewish literature or the intertestamental period that gave rise to so much of that literature.

1.) What was the name of the translation into Greek of the Hebrew Scriptures, and when approximately did this translation effort begin? Answer.

2.) Theologically, what is the significance of the timing of this translation effort? Answer.

3.) Some say that the Book of Daniel is a post-intertestamental period work–what evidence shows this to be an errant conclusion? Answer.

4.) What exactly are the Old Testament Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical Works? Answer.

5.) Wat exactly are the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha? Answer.

6.) What is the Talmud? Answer.

7.) What is the Samaritan Pentateuch? Answer.

Our Answers

1. Name: Septuagint, Date: approximately 250 BC (thus well over two-hundred years before our Savior’s Visitation; the translation itself happened in long stages, not all at once).

2. The Septuagint made the Hebrew scriptures available both to the Jews who no longer spoke their ancestral language as also to the entire Greek-speaking world. Significantly, this translation ultimately became the Bible of the Greek-speaking early Church, and please note that it is frequently quoted in the New Testament and of course it is quoted by Jesus (e.g., Matthew 1:23<>Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; John 1:23<> Isaiah 40:3 , Matthew 9:13; 12:7 <>Hosea 6:6 , Matthew 12:21<> Isaiah 42:4, Matthew 13:15 <>Isaiah 6:10, Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:6-8<>Isaiah 29:13, John 12:38<>Isaiah 53:1, John 12:40<> Isaiah 6:10, Acts 2:19<> Joel 2:30, Acts 2:25-26 <>Psalms 16:8 , Acts 7:14<> Genesis 46:27, Deuteronomy 10:22 , Acts 7:27-28 <> Exodus 2:14). Through this translation the Greek-speaking world became familiar with the Word of God to whom ultimately the Gospel would be preached.

3.) the Dead Sea Scrolls lend credence to the Book of Daniel being a sixth-century BC work by the prophet Daniel not least because at least eight manuscripts of the biblical book of Daniel were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The presence of the book of Daniel in the Dead Sea Scrolls is significant because it provides evidence that the book was in circulation before the time of our Lord Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls also contain fragments of the Book of Daniel that are written in Aramaic—the language that Daniel was originally written in. Stemming from the eleventh-century BC, Aramaic became the linga franca of much of the ancient Near East in the seventh-century BC.

4.) The word apocrypha is cognate with the Greek word APOKRUFA, itself the neuter plural form of APOKRUFOS, which means secret, hidden. The Apocrypha are hidden writings (the identity of the author is typically what is “hidden”). These works were excluded from the Hebrew Canon by the rabbis of the Council at Jamnia (c. AD 90); as a consequence of that exclusion, they were later excluded from the Protestant Canon as well. These writings are a collection of books that were written during the period between the Old and New Testaments (the so-called intertestamental period: roughly fourth-century BC-first-century AD). The Apocrypha includes some 14 books such as Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, et al. The motivation behind the writing of the Apocrypha is varied. Some of the books were written to provide historical context for the Jewish people during the intertestamental period, while others were written to provide moral instruction and guidance while others were written to provide comfort and hope to the Jewish people who were greatly suffering at that time. The Old Testament Deuterocanonical (=”second canon”) works are a collection of books that are considered canonical by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, but not by Jews and Protestants. Significantly, these books were not included in the Hebrew Bible per the decisions of the rabbis at Jamnia and therefore are excluded from the Protestant and Jewish Canon. They include works like the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, First & Second Maccabees, et al.

5.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha are a collection of books written by Jews during the last few centuries BC and the first few centuries AD. The term “pseudepigrapha” means “false writings,” and again, these books were not included in the Hebrew Bible. The Pseudepigrapha includes such works as the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the Life of Adam et al. The motivation behind the writing of the Pseudepigrapha is quite similar to that of the apocryphal and deuterocanonical works above: provide historical context, moral guidance and instruction, comfort and hope during a time of suffering.

6.) The Talmud is a Jewish rabbinic work comprised of the Mishnah (c. 220 AD) plus its commentary called the Gemara. Of old there were two versions, Babylonian Talmud (c. 500 AD) and Jerusalem Talmud (c fourth-century AD). The Mishnah is comprised of halakic and haggadic material, the former legal and regulative, the latter illustrative of the legal regulations. In short, the Talmud seeks to put forth the whole of Jewish Law and Tradition.

7.) The Samaritan Pentateuch (Torah) contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). It is similar to the Masoretic Text, which is the standard Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible, but there are some differences, notably, the Samaritan Pentateuch contains a commandment to construct an altar on Mount Gerizim, which is not found in the Masoretic Text.

Praised be your Name great Jehovah God, even Eternal Word. Amen.