Influence of the Lxx. On Christian Biblical Literature.
1. THE Church inherited from the Hellenistic Synagogue an entire confidence in the work of the Alexandrian translators. It was a treasure common to Jew and Christian, the authorised Greek Bible to which at first both appealed. When after the beginning of the second century a distrust of the LXX. sprang up among the Jews [931] , Christian teachers and writers not unnaturally clung to the old version with a growing devotion. They pleaded its venerable age and its use by the Evangelists and Apostles; they accepted and often embellished the legend of its birth [932] , and, following in the steps of Philo, claimed for it an inspiration not inferior to that of the original. When the divergences of the Septuagint from the current Hebrew text became apparent, it was argued that the errors of the Greek text were due to accidents of transmission, or that they were not actual errors, but Divine adaptations of the original to the use of the future Church.

Iren. iii.21.3 f. "quum . . . Deus . . . servavit nobis simplices scripturas in Aegypto . . . in qua et Dominus noster servatus est . . . et haec earum scripturarum interpretatio priusquam Dominus noster descenderet facta sit et antequam Christiani ostenderentur interpretata sit . . . vere impudorati et audaces ostenduntur qui nunc volunt aliter interpretationes facere, quando ex ipsis scripturis arguantur a nobis . . . etenim apostoli quum sint his omnibus vetustiores, consonant praedictae interpretationi, et interpretatio consonat apostolicae traditioni. etenim Petrus et Ioannes et Matthaeus et Paulus et reliqui deinceps et horum sectatores prophetica omnia ita annuntiaverunt quemadmodum Seniorum interpretatio continet. unus enim et idem Spiritus Dei qui in prophetis quidem praeconavit . . . in Senioribus autem interpretatus est bene quae bene prophetata fuerant. Cyril. Hieros. cat. iv.33 f.: anaginoske tas theias graphas, tas eik?osi duo [933] bibloths tes palaias diathekes tautas, tas hupo ton hebdomekonta duo hermeneu. ton hermeneutheisas . . . ou gar heuresilogia kai kataskeue sophismaton anthropinon en to ginomenon, all' ek pneumatos hagiou he ton hagio pneumati laletheison theion graphon hermeneia suneteleito. Chrys. in Matt. hom. v. ton allon mallon hapanton to axiopiston hoi hebdomekonta echoien an dikaios. hoi men gar meta ten tou Christou parousian hermeneusan, Ioudaioi meinantes, kai dikaios an hupopteuointo hate apechtheia mallon eirekotes, kai tas propheteias suskiazontes epitedes; hoi de hebdomekonta pro hekaton e kai pleionon eton tes tou Christou parousias epi touto elthontes kai tosoutoi ontes pases toiautes eisin hupopsias apellagmenoi. kai dia ton chronon kai dia to plethos kai dia ten sumphonian mallon an eiein pisteuesthai dikaioi. Hieron. ep. xxxiii. (ad Pammach.): "iure LXX. editio obtinuit in ecclesiis vel quia prima fuit et ante Christi facta adventum, vel quia ab Apostolis . . . usurpata"; praef. in Paralip. "si LXX. interpretum pura et ut ab eis in Graecum versa est editio permaneret, superflue me . . . impelleres ut Hebraea volumina Latino sermone transferrem." Aug. de doctr. Chr.22 "qui (LXX. interpretes) iam per omnes peritiores ecclesias tanta praesentia Sancti Spiritus interpretati esse dicuntur ut os unum tot hominum fuisse . . . quamobrem, etiamsi aliquid aliter in Hebraeis exemplaribus invenitur quam isti posuerunt, cedendum esse arbitror divinae dispositioni quae per eos facta est . . . itaque fieri potest ut sic illi interpretati sint quemadmodum congruere Gentibus ille qui eos agebat . . . Spiritus S. indicavit." (Cf. quaest. in Hept. i.169, vi.19; in Ps. cxxxv.; de civ. Dei viii.44.)

2. Under these circumstances the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament necessarily influenced the literature and thought of the Ancient Church in no ordinary degree. How largely it is quoted by Greek Christian writers of the first four centuries has already been shewn [934] . But they were not content to cite it as the best available version of the Old Testament; they adopted without suspicion and with tenacity its least defensible renderings, and pressed them into the service of controversy, dogma, and devotion. This remark applies also in effect to the Latin Christian writers before Jerome, who were generally dependent on a literal translation based upon the Greek Bible [935] . To Tertullian and Cyprian, as well as to Clement and Barnabas, Justin [936] and Irenaeus, the Septuagint was the Old Testament authorised by the Church, and no appeal lay either to any other version or to the original. Nor was this tradition readily abandoned by the few who attained to some knowledge of Hebrew. Origen, while recognising the divergence of the LXX. from the Hebrew, and endeavouring to reconcile the two by means of the Hexapla [937] , was accustomed to preach and comment upon the ordinary Greek text [938] . He even builds his system of interpretation on the LXX. rendering of Prov. xxii.20 [939] . Jerome was long in reaching his resolve to adopt the Hebrew text as the basis of his new Latin version, and when at length he did so, his decision exposed him to obloquy [940] . Augustine, while sympathising with Jerome's purpose, thought it a doubtful policy to unsettle the laity by lowering the authority of the LXX. [941]

The following examples of Christian interpretation based upon the LXX. will shew how largely that version influenced the hermeneutics of the Ancient Church. The exegesis is often obviously wrong, and sometimes it is even grotesque; but it illustrates the extent to which the authority of the LXX. became a factor in the thought and life of the Church both in ante-Nicene and early post-Nicene times. A careful study of these passages will place in the hands of the young student of patristic literature a key which may unlock many of his difficulties.

Gen. i.2 he de ge en aoratos kai akataskeuastos Iren. i.18.1 tom aoraton de kai ton a[okruphon autes menuonta eipein He de ge ktl. Tert. bapt.3 "(aqua) plurima suppetit, et quidem a primordio . . . terra autem erat invisibilis et incomposita . . . solus liquor dignum vectaculum Deo subiciebat." ii.2 te hemera te hekte.; Iren. v.28.3 phaneron oun hoti he sunteleia auton to ,s etos esti. iv.7 ouk ean orthos prosenenkes ktl. Iren. iii.23.4 "Cain quum accepisset consilium a Deo uti quiesceret in eo quod non recte divisisset eam quae erga fratrem erat communicationem . . . non solum non acquievit, sed adiecit peccatum super peccatum"; cf. iv.18.3. xiv.14 erithmesen . . . deka kai okto kai triakosious (cod. D). Barn.9.8 mathete hoti tous dekaokto protous, kai diastema poiesas legei triakosious; to dekaokto ( ) echeis Iesoun; hoti de ho stauros en to T emellen echein ten charin legei kai triakosious T. Cf. Clem. Al. strom. vi.11. Hil. syn.86. Ambr. de fide i. prol. xxxi.13 ego eimi ho theos ho ophtheis soi en topo theou (D^ silE). Just. Dial.58 (cf.60). xlviiii.14 epebalen . . . enallax tas cheiras. Tert. bapt.8 "sed est hoc quoque de vetere sacramento quo nepotes suos . . . intermutatis manibus benedixerit et quidem ita transversim obliquatis in se, ut Christum deformantes iam tunc portenderent benedictionem in Christum futuram." xlix.10 ouk ekleipsei archon ex Iouda kai hegoumenos ktl. Justin Dial.52 oudepote en to genei humon epausato oute prophetes oute archon . . . mechris hou houtos Iesous Christos kai gegone kai epathen (cf. ib.120). Iren. iv.10.2 "inquirant enim . . . id tempus in quo defecit princeps et dux ex Iuda et qui est gentium spes . . . et invenient non alium nisi Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum annuntiatum." Cypr. test. i.21. Eus. dem. ev. i.4. Cyril. H. xii.17 semeion oun edoke tes Christou parousias to pausasthai ten archen ton Ioudaion. ei me nun hupo Rhomaious eisin, oupo elthen ho Christos; ei echousi ton ek genous Iouda kai tou Dabid, oupo elthen ho prosdokomenos.

Exod. xvi.36 to de gomor to dekaton ton trion metron en. Clem. Al. strom. ii. en hemie gar aurois tria metra, tria kriteria menuetai, aisixsos . . . logos . . . nous. xvii.16 en cheiri kruphaia polemei Kurios epi Amalek apo geneon eis geneas. Just. Dial.49 noesai dunasthe hoti kruthia dunamis tou theou gegone to staurothenti Christo. Iren. iii.16.4 "occulte quidem sed potenter manifestans, quoniam absconsa manu expugnabat Dominus Amalech." xxxiii.19 kaleso epi to onomati Kuriou enantion sou (AF). Amb. de Sp. s. i.13 "Dominus ergo dixit quia in nomine suo vocabit Dominum; Dominus ergo et Patris est nomen et Filii."

Lev. iv.5 ho hiereus ho christos. Tert. bapt.7 "Aaron a Moyse unctus est, unde Christus dicitur a chrismate, quod est unctio, quae Domino nomen accommodavit."

Num. xxiii.19 ouch hos anthropos ho theos diartethenai oude hos huios anthropou apeilethenai. Cypr. test. ii.20 [under the heading "Quod cruci illum fixuri essent Iudaei"]. xxiv.17 anatelei astron ex Iakob, kai anastesetai anthropos ex Israel. Eus. dem. ev. i.3, 6. Cypr. test. ii.10 [under the heading, "Quod et homo et Deus Christus," &c.].

Deut. xxviii.66 estai he zoe sou kremamene apenanti ton ophthalmon sou . . . kai ou pisteuseis te zoe sou Tert. (Jud.11) quotes this as "Erit vita tua pendens in ligno ante oculos tuos; et non credes vitae tuae," explaining the words of the "signi sacramentum . . . in quo vita hominibus praestruebatur, in quo Judaei non essent credituri." Cf. Cyril H. xiii.19 hoti he zoe en he epi tou xulou kremastheisa Moses apoklaiomenos phesi ktl. xxxii.8 estesen horia ethnon kata arithmon angelon theou. Justin (dial.131) cites the last three words as k. arithmous huion Israel,, adding hoi hebdomekonta exegesanto hoti Estesen ho. ethnon k. arithmon ang. theou; all' epei kai ek toutou palin ouden moi elattoutai ho logos, ten humeteran exegesin eipon. Iren. iii.12.9, quoting the LXX., comments: "populum autem qui credit Deo iam non esse sub angelorum potestate."

Jos. v.3 epoiesen Iesous machairas petrinas akrotomous kai perietemen tous huious Israel. Tert. Jud.9 "circumcisis nobis petrina acie, id est, Christi praeceptis (petra enim Christus multis modis et figuris praedicatus est)."

3 Regn. xxii.38 apenipsan to haima epi ten krenen Samareias . . . kai hai pornai elousanto en to haimati: Amb. de Sp. s.1.16 "fidelis ad puteum (Gen. xxiv.62), infidelis ad lacum (Jer. ii.13) . . . meretrices in lacu Jezabel se cruore laverunt."

Ps. ii.12 draxasthe paideias. Cyp. test. iii.66 "continete [942] disciplinam" [under the heading "Disciplinam Dei in ecclesiasticis praceptis observandam"]. iv.7 esemeiothe eph' hemas to phos tou prosopou sou. Amb. de Sp.1.14 "quod est ergo lumen signatum nisi illius signaculi spiritalis in quo credentes signati (inquit) estis Spiritu promissionis sancto [943] ." vi.6 en de to hade tis exomologesetai soi. Cypr. test. iii.114 [under the heading "Dum in carne est quis, exhomologesin (cf. Stud. Bibl. iv.282, 290 n.) facere debere"]. ix. tit. eis to telos. Hil. ad loc. "intellegendum quotiens qui titulos habent in fine, non praesentia in his sed ultima contineri." Ib. huper ton kruphion tou huiou. Orig. ad loc. kruphia esti gnosis aporretos ton peri Christou tou alethinou theou musterion. Athan. ad loc. legei Huper ton akatalepton musterion tou huiou. xxi.7. See under Hab. ii.11.30 kai he psuche mou auto ze. Iren. v.7.1 "tamquam immortali substantia eius existente." xxxii.6 to logo tou kuriou . . . to pneumati tou stomatos autou. See Iren. iii.8.3, Tert. Prax.7, Cypr. test. ii.3, Ambr. de Sp. s. iii.11, Hil. trin. xii.39. xliv.1 exereuxato he kardia mou logon agathon. Tert. Prax.7 "solus ex Deo genitus, proprie de vulva cordis ipsius secundum quod et Pater ipse testatur Eructavit cor meum sermonem optimum." Marc. ii.4 "adhibet operi bono optimum etiam ministrum, sermonem suum." Cf. Cypr. test. ii.3. lxxxvi.4 mnesthesomai Rhaab. Cyril. H. ii.9 o megales tou theou philanthropias kai pornon mnemoneuouses en graphais (the LXX. having transliterated rchv and rhv alike). Cf. Hieron. comm. in Ps. ad loc. Ib.5 Meter Seion erei anthropos, kai Anthropos egenethe en aute, kai Autos ethemeliosen auten ho hupsistos. Tert. Prax.27 "invenimus illum directo et Deum et hominem expositum, ipso hoc psalmo suggerente quoniam Deus homo natus est in illa, aedificavit eam voluntate Patris"; cf. Marc. iv.13 "'Mater Sion' dicet homo, et 'homo factus est in illa' (quoniam Deus homo natus est) . . . aedificaturus ecclesiam ex voluntate patris."; Hieron. comm. in Pss. (ed. G. Morin) ad loc.: "pro 'mater Sion' LXX. interpretes transtulerunt: 'numquid Sion (me te S.) dicat homo?' . . . sed vitiose P litera graeca addita fecit errorem [944] ." Jerome however retains the interpretation 'homo Christus,' which depends on the LXX. reading anthropos. lxxxvii.6 en eekrois eleutheros. Cyril. H. x.4 ouk apomeinas en nekrois, hos pantes en hade, alla moeos en nekrois eleutheros. xci.13 dikaios hos phoinix anthesei. Tert. res. carn.13 "id est de morte, de funere, uti credas de ignibus quoque substantiam corporis exigi posse" (cf. Clem. R.1 Cor.25, Lightfoot, p.85 n.). xcv.5 pantes hoi theoi ton ethnon daimonia. Just. dial.55 hoi theoi ton ethnon . . . eidola damonion eisin, all' ou theoi (cf. ib.79, 83). Iren. iii.6.3. Tert. idololatr.20. Cypr. test. iii.59. Ib.10 ho kurios ebasileusen [apo tou xulou]. Just. apol. i.41, Dial.73 f. [945] Tert. Marc. iii.19; Jud.10 "age nunc, si legisti penes prophetam in psalmis: Deus regnavit a ligno, expecto quid intelligas, ne forte lignarium aliquem regem significari putetis et non Christum." ib.13 "unde et ipse David regnaturum ex ligno dominum dicebat." Auctor de montibus Sina et Sion 9 "Christus autem in montem sanctum ascendit lignum regni sui." Cf. Barn.8 he basileia Iesou epi xulou. xcviii.5 proskuneite to hupopodio ton podon autou. Ambr. de Sp. s. iii.11 "per scabellum terra intelligitur, per terram autem caro Christi quam hodieque in mysteriis adoramus, et quam Apostoli in Domino Jesu . . . adorarunt." Cf. Aug. ad loc. cvi.20 apesteilen ton logon autou kai iasato autous. Cypr. test. ii.3 [under the heading "Quod Christus idem sit sermo Dei"]. cix.3^b ek gastros pro heosphorou exegennesa se. Just. apo1. i.45, dial.32. Tert. Marc. v.9 "nos edimus evangelia . . . nocturna nativitate declarantia Dominum ut hoc sit ante luciferum . . . nec generavi te edixisset Deus nisi filio vero . . . cur autem adiecit ex utero . . . nisi quia curiosius voluit intellegi in Christum ex utero generavi te, id est, ex solo utero sine viri semine?" Cypr. test. i.17. Cyril. H. vii.2 aper epi anthropon anatherein pases agnomosunes anapleon. xi.5 to semeron' (Ps. ii.7) achronon, pro panton ton aionon; ek gastros pro heosphorou ktl. Cf. Athan. or. c. Ar. iv.27 f.

Prov. viii.22 Kurios ektisen me archen hodon autou. Just. dial.61. Iren. iv.20.3. Tert. Prax.7. Cypr. test. ii.1 [under the heading Christum . . . esse sapientiam Dei, per quam omnia facta sunt]. Hil. trin. xii.45 "quaerendum est quid sit natum ante saecula Deum rursum in initium viarum Dei et in opera creari." Cf. Athan. or. in Ar. ii.16 ff. xxii.20 kai su de apograpsai auta seauto trissos. Orig. Philoc.1.11 (de princ. iv.) oukoun trichos apographesthai dei eis ten heautou psuchen ta ton hagion grammaton noemata.

Job xl.14 pepoiemenon enkatapaizesthai hupo ton angelon autou. Applied to the Devil by Cyr. H. cat. viii.4.

Hos. xl.4 (A) EV en to oiko mou heurosan me. Tert. Marc. iv.39 "per diem in templo docebat ut qui per Osee praedixerat," &c. (For the reading of B, cf. Orig. Philoc. viii.1.)

Amos ix.6 ho oikodomon eis ton ouranon anabasin autou. Tert. Marc. iv.34 "aedificantem illis ascensum suum in caelum."

Hab. ii.11 lithos ek toichou boesetai kai kantharos ek xulou phthenxetai auta. Ambr. in Luc. xxiii. "bonus vermis qui haesit in ligno (Ps. xxi.7), bonus scarabaeus qui clamavit e ligno . . . clamavit quasi scarabaeus Deus Deus meus"; or. de obitu Theodosii 46 "[Helena] adoravit illum qui pependit in ligno . . . illum (inquam) qui sicut scarabaeus clamavit ut persecutoribus suis Pater peccata donaret." Hieron. in Abac., ad loc. "quidam e nostris vermem in ligno loquentem illum esse aiunt qui dicit in Psalmo (xxi.7) Ego natus sum vermis et non homo." iii.2 en meso duo zoon gnosthese. Tert. Marc. iv.22 "in medio duo animalium cognosceris, Moysi et Eliae." Eus. dem. ev. vi.15 duo zoas (reading zoon in text) tou propheteuomenou delousthai ephamen, mian men ten entheon, thateran de ten anthropinen.

Zach. vi.12 idou aner, Anatole onoma auto. Just. dial.106, 121. Tert. Valent.3 "amat figura Spiritus sancti orientem, Christi figuram."

Isa. i.22 hoi kapeloi sou misgousi ton oinon hudati. Iren. iv.12.1 "ostendens quod austero Dei praecepto miscerent seniores aquatam traditionem." iii.9 f. ouai te psuche auton, dioti bebouleuntai boulen poneran kath' heauton eipontes Desomen (v.l. ap. Justin., al. aromen) ton dikaion, hoti duschrestos hemin estin. Barn. vi.7, Just. dial.17, 133, 136 f. Tert. Marc. iii.22. Cyril H. xiii.12. vii.14 he parthenos. Just. dial.43, 67, 71, 84. Iren. iii.21.1 ff. Tert. Marc. iii.13, iv.10. Cypr. test. ii.9. Eus. dem. ev. vii.1. Cyr. H. xii.21. ix.6 megales boules angelos. Hil. trin. iv.23 "qui Angelus Dei dictus est, idem Dominus et Deus est; est autem secundum prophetam Filius Dei magni consilii angelus." x.23 logon suntetmemenon poiesei Kurios. Tert. Marc. iv.4 "compendiatum est enim novum testamentum et a legis laciniosis oneribus expeditum" (cf. iv.16). xxx.4 hoti eisin en Tanei archegoi angeloi poneroi. Just. dial.79 ponerous angelous katokekenai kai katoikein legei kai en Tanei, te Aiguptia chora. xlv.1 houtos legei Kurios ho theos to christo mou Kuro [read as kurio]. Barn. xii.11, Tert. Prax.28, Jud.7, Cypr. test.1.21. Ib.14 kai en soi proseuxontai Ambr. de Sp. s. ii.8 "in Christo orare nos debere Deus Pater dicit." liii.3 anthropos en plege on. Tert. de carne Chr.15. Ib.8 ten genean autou tis diegesetai; Eus. h. e. i.2. liv.15 proselutoi proseleusontai soi di emou. Ambr. de Sp. s. ii.9 "Deus Pater ad Filium dicit: Ecce proselyti venient ad te per me." lx.17 doso tous archontas sou en eirene kai tous episkopous sou en dikaiosune. Iren. iv.26.5 toioutous presbuterous anatrephei he ekklsia, peri hon kai prophetes phesen Doso ktl. Cf. Clem. R. I Cor.42. lxiii.1 eruthema himation ek Bosor. Hieron. comm. in Isa. ad loc. "quod multi pro errore lapsi putant de carne (vsr) Domini intellegi." Ib.9 ou presbus oude angelos, all' autos esosen autous. Iren. iii.20.4 "quoniam neque homo tantum erit qui salvat nos neque sine carne (sine carne enim angeli sunt)." Tert. Marc. iv.22 "non legatus, inquit Esaias, nec nuncius, sed ipse Deus salvos eos faciet, ipse iam praedicans et implens legem et prophetas."

Jer. xi.19 deute kai embalomen xulon eis ton arton autou Tert. Marc. iii.19 "utique 'in corpus' . . . sic enim Deus in evangelio . . . revelavit, panem corpus suum appellans." Cypr. test. ii.20. xvii.9 anthropos estin, kai tis gnosetai auton; Iren. iii.18.3, 19.2, iv.33.11; Tert. carn. Chr.15, Jud.14.

Bar. iii.38 meta touto epi tes ges ophthe kai en tois anthropois sunanestraphe. Cyril. H. xi.15 blepeis theon meta ten Moseos nomothesian enanthropesanta;

Lam. iv.20 pneuma prosopou hemon christos Kurios sunelemphthe en tais diaphthorais auton. Just. apol. i.55. Iren. iii.10.11. Tert. Marc. iii.6 "Christum, spiritum scilicet creatoris, sicut propheta testatur" &c. Prax.14 "ergo si Christus personae paternae spiritus est, merito spiritus cuius persona erat (id est Patris) cum faciem suam ex unitate scilicet pronuntiavit." Cyril. H. xiii.7. Ambr. de Sp. s.1.9 "et Christus spiritus dicitur quia Ieremias dixit," &c.

From these specimens it is clear that the Ancient Church was profoundly influenced by the Greek Old Testament in a variety of ways. Two may be mentioned here. (1) The Alexandrian Greek with its daughter-version, the Old Latin, supplied the basis of a practical interpretation which, notwithstanding numerous errors of text and of treatment, ministered to the religious life of the Christian Society. It was from the LXX. version and not from the official Hebrew of the Synagogue that the pre-Hieronymian Church derived her devotional use of the Old Testament, as it is on the whole the Greek and not the Hebrew Bible which still supplies the Roman Breviary and the Anglican Prayer-book with the substance of their liturgical Psalters. The Alexandrian School based its exegetical work upon the LXX., and the errors and obscurities of the version often yielded materials peculiarly adapted to the requirements of the allegorists; whilst the School of Antioch was no less whole-hearted in its devotion to the old Alexandrian version [946] . This spirit of loyalty to the LXX. continued to the age of the later Greek expositors; it is reflected in the catenae, and it fundamentally affects the traditional interpretation of the Old Testament throughout the orthodox East. Even in the West, through the spread of the Greek exegesis, and the use of the Old Latin version by the earlier Latin fathers, it has acquired a predominant influence. Thus, for good or for evil, the popular interpretation of the O. T. has been moulded by the LXX. rather than by the Hebrew text. (2) The LXX. supplied the Ancient Church with controversial weapons at two great crises in her history -- during the early struggle with the rival forces of Monotheism, Judaism, Marcionism, and the various schools of Gnosticism, and in the long conflict with Arianism. Arians as well as Catholics appealed to the Alexandrian version. Thus Arius did not hesitate to argue from Joel ii.25, LXX. (he akris . . . he kampe he dunamis mou he megale) that the Son is the Power of God in no higher sense than any other agency by which great effects are wrought upon the face of nature [947] . Both parties had recourse to Prov. viii.22, where the LXX. rendering of qnny by ektisen me seemed to Arius to justify the statement that the Logos Himself had a beginning of existence, like the created universe [948] . Unconvincing as such arguments are now, they had an overwhelming weight in the fourth century, and Hilary speaks as if the cause of orthodoxy might be saved by wresting this crucial passage out of the hands of the Arians (de Trin. xii. "hic hiemis eorum maximus fluctus est, haec tortuosa turbinis gravis unda est, quae excepta a nobis et securo navigio infracta, usque ad ipsum nos tutissimum portum optati litoris prosequetur"). Neither the controversies of the second nor those of the fourth century can be fully understood without an appreciation of the place which the Greek Old Testament occupied in the thought and language of the Ancient Church.

3. Familiarity with the LXX. is not less essential to the student of the devotional life of the Early Church. The Greek Liturgies, especially perhaps in the oldest parts, are steeped in the language of the Greek Old Testament. (a) The prayers of the Psalter are worked into their text, often with little or no change; e.g. St Clement (B.5) [949] dos autois kardian kainen kai pneuma euthes enkainison en tois enkatois auton (Ps. l.12); ib. (B.8) kai apodose autois ten agalliasin tou soteriou kai pneumati hegemoniko sterison autous (Ps. l.14); St James (B.37) soson ho theos ton laon sou kai eulogeson ten kleronomian sou (Ps. xxvii.9) [950] ; ib. (B.55) epilabou hoplou kai thureou kai anastethi eis ten boetheian mou (Ps. xxxiv.2); St Mark (B.117) exaposteilon to phos sou kai ten aletheian sou (Ps. xlii.3) . . . kai tachu prokatalabetosan hemas hoi oiktirmoi sou, Kurie (Ps. lxxviii.8). (b) Many of their magnificent addresses to God and to Christ are from the LXX. e.g. St Clement (B.12) Kurie pantokrator, hupsiste, en hupselois, hagie en hagiois anapauomene, anarche, monarche (Isa. lvii.15 + 3 Macc. ii.2); ib. (B.24) ho megas, ho megalonumos (Jer. xxxix.19); St James (B.44) ho en hupselois katoikon kai ta tapeina ephoron (Ps. cxii.5 f.); St Mark (B.137) ho kathemenos epi ton cheroubim (Ps. lxxix.2); Sarapion (J. Th. St. i.) thee tes aletheias (Ps. xxx.6); ton dunameon (Ps. lviii.6); ton pneumaton (Num. xvi.22). (c) Passing allusions are made to the LXX., some times difficult to explain without its aid, e.g. St Clement (B.6) ho ton anthropoktonon ophin desmoten paradous hemin hos strouthion paidiois (cf. Job xl.14); ib. (B.15) logon theon . . . angelon tes megales boules sou (Isa. ix.6); St James (B.55) ton to hagion sou thusiasterion kuklounton diakonon (Ps. xxv.6); ib. (B.57) en chora zonton (Ps. cxiv.9); St Mark (B.126) eisodous kai exodous hemon en pase eirene katakosmeson (1 Regn. xxix.6: Ps. cxx.8); ib. (B.133) ex hetoimou katoiketeriou sou (Exod. xv.17; 3 Regn. viii.39 ff.); St Basil (B.335) he elpis ton apelpismenon (Judith ix.11); Sarapion: ho thanaton kai zoogonon (1 Regn. ii.6). (d) Much of the technical phraseology of the Liturgies is from the LXX.: e.g. ta hagia (Lev. xxii.2), anaphora (Num. iv.19), dora (Gen. iv.4), thusia (Gen. iv.3), leitourgia (Exod. xxxvii.19), thusia aineseos (Lev. vii.3 f., Ps. xlix.14, 23), prothesis (Exod. xxxix.18), prokeimena (Lev. xxiv.7), prosphora (3 Regn. vii.34), teleioun (Exod. xxix.9). (e) The same is true with regard to some of the oldest Eucharistic formulae, e.g. the Preface and Sanctus [951] which are based on Isa. vi.2 -- 3, the Kyrie eleison (Psalms, passim), the Gustate (Cyril H. myst. v.20) [952] .

4. The Greek terminology of Christian Doctrine is largely indebted to the Alexandrian translators. It is true that in this case most of the technical language of theology has passed through the New Testament and received there a fuller preparation for the use of the Church: and the influence of Greek philosophy and of Gnostic speculation must also be borne in mind by the student of the language of dogma. But it is perhaps even more important that he should trace it back to its source in the Greek Old Testament, which was far more familiar to Christian teachers of the first three centuries than the writings of Plato or of the schools of Basileides and Valentinus. The patristic use of such terms as hades, anastasis, eikon, ekklesia, ephodion, thusia, thusiasterion, Kurios, logos, monogenes, xulon, ousia, pantokrator, pantodunamos, paradeisos, pneuma hagion, pistis, prosphora, sarx, sophia, hupostasis, phusis, phos, charis, can best be understood by the student who begins by investigating their use in the Septuagint.

Indirectly, but not less extensively, the earliest Latin theology drew a store of theological language from the LXX. Such words as aeternalis, altare, benedictio, congregatio, converti, daemonium, eleemosyna, exomologesis, glorificare, hostia, iustitia, misericordia, oblatio, propitiatio, sacerdos, sacrificium, salvare, testamentum, unicus, viaticum, are examples which might easily be multiplied. In the case of some of these terms (e. g. sacerdos = episcopus, sacrificium = eucharistia) the choice contributed largely to the development of doctrine, and it is reasonable to suppose that they entered the vocabulary of the Western Church through the Latin version of the Septuagint, and not directly from Pagan use. It is noteworthy that Cyprian, whose own style has been said to shew "small respect for the language of the Latin Bible [953] ," persistently used these O. T. words in reference to the Christian ministry and the Eucharistic offering.

5. One great monument of ancient Christianity, which still exercises a direct influence over the vast Latin communion, seemed at one time likely to serve as a counteracting force to the Septuagint. It was the deliberate purpose of Jerome to set aside in the West the authority of a daughter-version of the LXX., and to establish in its place, by means of his new Latin Bible, that of the official Hebrew text. Nevertheless, through a variety of causes, the Vulgate, as it is now read by the Latin Church, perpetuates many of the characteristic features of the LXX. (a) The Psalter of the Vulgate, as we have seen, is taken from Jerome's second revision of the Old Latin, and not from his Psalterium Hebraicum, or translation of the Hebrew text; and the books of Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and 1, 2 Maccabees, are given in the Old Latin forms [954] . (b) The rest of the Old Testament retains, in the Clementine Vulgate, numerous traces of Septuagint readings and renderings. A few examples may be given: Gen. iii.15 "tu insidiaberis (tereseis) calcaneo eius"; iv.8 "dixitque Cain ad Abel fratrem eius Egrediamur foras" (dielthomen eis to pedion); vi.5 "non permanebit (ou me katameine) "Spiritus meus in homine"; xlix.10 "ipse erit expectatio (prosdokia) gentium"; Num. xxiv.24 "vastabuntque Hebraeos"; Isa. vii.14 "ecce virgo concipiet"; Lam. iv.20 "Spiritus oris nostri Christus dominus"; Zech. iii.8 "adducam servum meum Orientem" (Anatolen). It must indeed be remembered that loans from the LXX. are not always of Jerome's borrowing; some of them have made their way into the text of the Vulgate during the course of its transmission (see Vercellone, Variae lectiones vulgatae Latinae bibliorum editionum, ii. p. viii sqq.). But they hold their place in the authorised Latin Bible of the West, and represent there to this day the influence of the Alexandrian Greek version. (c) Many of the words of the Vulgate are more or less complete transliterations of the Greek words used by the LXX. in the same contexts, survivals in great part from the O. L., where they had familiarised themselves to Latin ears [955] . Thus we have arceuthinus (2 Chr. ii.8), azyma, azymi (Gen. xix.3, Exod. xii.8), blasphemare (Lev. xxiv.11), cartallus (Deut. xxvi.2), cataplasmare (Isa. xxxviii.21), cauma (Job xxx.30), choerogryllus (Lev. xi.5), christus (1 Regn. ii.10), chytropus (Lev. xi.35), cidaris (Lev. xvi.4), creagra (2 Chr. iv.11), doma (Jer. xix.13), ecclesia (1 Regn. xvii.47), gazophylacium (Ezech. xl.17), holocaustum (Lev. i.3), laganum (Exod. xxix.23), latomus (3 Regn. v.15), luter (3 Regn. vii.17 = 30), naulum (Jon. i.3), nycticorax (Deut. xiv.17), sabbatum (Exod. xvi.23), synagoga (Num. xxvii.21), theristrum (Gen. xxxviii.14), thymiama (Exod. xxx.1), zelotes (Exod. xx.5), zelotypta (Num. v.15). If we turn to the books which are directly derived from the O. L., such forms are of course even more numerous; it is enough to specify acediari (Sir. vi.26), acharis (Sir. xx.19 = 21), allophyli (Ps. lv.1), artaba (Bel 2), decachordus (Ps. xci.4), diplois (Ps. cviii.29), eleemosyna (Tob. xi.14 = 22), Iudaismus (2 Macc. viii.1), neomenia (Ps. lxxx.4), palatha (Judith x.5), pentapolis (Sap. x.6), poderis (Sap. xviii.24), rhomphaea (Sir. xxi.4), tympanistria (Ps. lxvii.26), zelare (Ps. lxxii.3). Several of these words belong to ordinary post-Augustan Latin, but their use in the Vulgate may fairly be ascribed to the influence of the LXX., usually through the O. L. The same may be said of many Vulgate reproductions of Hebrew names, e.g. Moyses, Balaam, Gomorrha, Gabaon, Ierusalem, Pharao, where the LXX. spelling or pronunciation has been retained, no doubt because of its familiarity.

The influence of the other Greek versions over Jerome's great work, if less subtle and widely diffused, has been more direct, and in the matter of interpretation more important. Thus it was from Aquila that Jerome borrowed the following readings [956] : Exod. ii.5 in papyreone (A. en meso tou papureonos); Deut. xxxiii.12 quasi in thalamo morabitur (A. pastosei); Job xiv.12 donec atteratur caelum (A. heos an katatribe ho ouranos); Amos ii.13 ego stridebo subter vos, sicut stridet plaustrum (A. trizeso . . . trizei); Jer. xlix. (xxix.) 19 ad pulcritudinem robustam (A. pros euprepeian sterean). His debts to Symmachus are still more numerous, and only a few can be given here [957] ; Num. xxv.8 in lupanar (S. eis to porneion); Jos. x.42 uno cepit impetu (S. echmaloteusen mia horme); Jud. xv.19 molarem dentem (S. ten mulen); 1 Regn. ix.24 quia de industria servatum est tibi (S. hoti epitedes teteretai soi); 4 Regn. ii.14 ubi est Dominus deus Eliae etiam nunc? (S. kai nun); Isa. liv.8 in momento indignationis (S. en atomo orges); Ezek. viii.10 in circuitu per totum (S. kuklo diolou). It may be added that not a few of the Greek words retained in the Vulgate are from the later versions and not from the LXX.; e.g. grabatus (Amos iii.12, A.), laicus (1 Regn. xxi.4, A. S. Th.), lecythus (3 Regn. xvii.12 ff.), tristegum (Gen. vi.16, S.).

The subject is too large to be adequately handled in a single chapter. But enough has been said to indicate the nature and extent of the influence which the Greek versions and the Septuagint in particular have exercised over Christian thought and letters, both in East and West, and the consequent importance of these translations for the student of ecclesiastical history and literature. Bishop Pearson's judgement as to the serviceableness of the LXX. to patristic students will always remain true: "si Graecos patres consulueris, quis eos de rebus divinis disserentes intelliget, qui normam quam semper in animo dum scriberent habuere non ante cognitam atque perspectam habeat? . . . sed ad Latinos patres non minus quam Graecos recte intelligendos LXX. viralis versio frequens utilis est, imo necessaria [958] ." He might have added that in the Latin Christendom of to-day the influence of the Greek versions is not extinct; the echoes of their text, their renderings, and their interpretations are still to be heard in the Bible, the worship, and the theology of the Western Church.

LITERATURE (on the general subject of the chapter). J. Pearson, Praefatio paraenetica ad V. T. Graecum (ed. E. Churton, Cambridge, 1855), H. Hody, de Bibliorum textibus, III. iii. sqq. J. G. Rosenmüller, Historia interpretationis librorum sacr. in ecclesia Christiana (1795 -- 1814). W. R. Churton, The influence of the Septuagint version upon the Progress of Christianity (Cambridge, 1861). F. W. Farrar, History of Interpretations (London, 1886). A. F. Kirkpatrick, The Septuagint Version (in Expositor, V. vi.1896).


Footnotes:

[931] See above, p. 30 f.

[932] See above, p. 13 f.

[933] See above, p. 219 ff.

[934] Part III.[c. 3.

[935] See above, p. 87 ff.

[936] 2 Justin occasionally adopts a rendering preferred by his Jewish antagonists, or does not press the rendering of the LXX. But he makes this concession only where the alternative does not affect his argument; see Dial. 124, 131.

[937] See above, p. 60 ff.

[938] Comm. in Cant. i. 344, "tamen nos LXX. interpretum scripta per omnia custodimus, certi quod Spiritus Sanctus mysteriorum formas obtectas inesse voluit in scripturis divinis."

[939] See below, p. 468.

[940] See his Preface to the Gospels, addressed to Damasus.

[941] Aug. Ephesians 2:82, 35. He deprecates the change of cucurbita into hedera in Jonah 3:6 ff. on the ground that the LXX. doubtless had good reasons for translating the Hebrew word by kolokuntha: "non enim frustra hoc puto LXX. posuisse, nisi quia et huic simile sciebant."

[942] v.l. adprehendite.

[943] Ephesians 1:13.

[944] Cf. the Tractatus in Psalmos, p. 402.

[945] See above, p. 424, n., and cf. Deuteronomy 28:66.

[946] For Chrysostom's use of the LXX. see F. H. Chase, Chrysostom: a study in the history of Biblical Interpretation, p. 28 ff. (Cambridge, 1887); and for Theodore of Mopsuestia, cf. H. Kihn, 1 Thessalonians 5.Mops., p. 87 ff. (Freiburg i. B., 1880).

[947] Fragment of the Thalia, in Athan. or. c. Ar. i. 6.

[948] Ib. archee tou ktizesthai esche kai autos.

[949] The references are to the pages of Mr Brightman's Liturgies, Eastern and Western, i.((Oxford, 1896).

[950] Cf. St Basil (B. 311).

[951] The composite quotation in Clem. R. 1 Cor. 34. (Daniel 7:10 + Isaiah 6:3) is probably an echo of an early Roman Preface. A reference to Dan. 50.c. in the same connexion is not uncommon; cf. St Clement (B. 18), St Mark (B. 131), Sarapion (J. Th. St. i. 1, p. 105).

[952] To these may perhaps be added the Ha ophthalmos ouk eide (cf. Clem. R. l.c.). On Kyrie eleison see a paper by Mr Edm. Bishop, in the Downside Review, 1899--1900 (published separately by Walters, Weston-super-mare).

[953] E. W. Watson, in Studia Biblica, p. 194 f.

[954] See above, pp. 98 f., 103.

[955] Cf. Kaulen, Handbuch zur Vulgata (Mainz, 1870), pp. 83 ff., 130 f., 189 ff.

[956] Field, Hexapla, i., p. xxiv.

[957] For other exx. see Field, op. cit., p. xxxiv.

[958] Praef. paraen., ed. E. Churton, p. 25 f.

chapter iv the greek versions
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