WHO DECIDES?

hen the Church began, there ample, the Dead Sea scrolls, containing their own faith for the Pharisees to limit

W were no New Testament the sacred texts of the Essene sect of

books. Old Testament texts Judaism, show evidence of the Masoretic,
alone were used as Scrip-
ture. The Old Testament used in the
Samaritan, and LXX text bases.
However, with the fall of Jerusalem
the books they wanted to include in their
revised_Hebrew canon. Like the early
Church, the Jews of Christ's time were
not united around a particular set of texts
early Church throughout the Roman in AD 70, an intense standardization pro- (beyond the Torah, that is). They were
world was not the Hebrew Old cess began. Only the. Pharisee and the organized around a liturgical life in the
Testament, but a translation of the Old Samaritan sects of Judaism survived this temple and synagogue. For this liturgical
Testament into Greek called the process. The collection of Old Testament life, they came to use texts in the
Septuagint (LXX). The LXX was books into what eventually became the services. However, the liturgical life
translated in Alexandria during the reign Masoretic text was begun by the preceded the production of the texts and
of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the middle Pharisees at the Council of Jamnia, formed their context. Historically, as
of the third century B.C., and was the somewhere between AD 80 and 100, but the-Jewish faith developed in the
standard Old Testament in the syna- was not completed until the sixth synagogues and in temple worship dur-
gogues throughout the Hellenistic world century. During this period, The Wisdom ing the postexilic period (the four to five
(including Palestine) at the time of of Sirach, which was eventually excluded hundred years preceding the coming of
Christ. from the Masoretic text, was sometimes Messiah), texts came to be used in wor-
In addition to the books included in included in the Jewish canon, while ship (e.g., the Psalms) and teaching. As
a Protestant Old Testament, the LXX Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, mentioned above, the exact collection of
contained a number of other books now and Esther, all of which even- texts varied depending on the sect.
commonly referred to as Apocrypha or _ tually found a place in that text, were
Deuterocanonical. Some of these books sometimes excluded. However, with the loss of their
are Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, and a The Jews wanted a standardized He- center in Jerusalem and of unified temple
longer version of Daniel. brew text of the Old Testament partly worship (after AD 70), preserving the
The LXX is based on a very because of the large number of Christian Jewish faith required greater
different text of the Old Testament from Jews. The older LXX version of the Old standardization. The Jews could no
the Masoretic text, on which modem Testament contained many messianic longer afford divisions if they were to
English translations are based. For passages that the Christians could use to survive as a people. Thus, they needed a
instance, in many places the wording is convince Jews that Jesus was the collection of unproblematic texts to use
quite different, and the content of the Messiah. In fact, the early Christians in their now dispersed population and
books also differs—generally the LXX charged that the Pharisees had synagogue-only worship. They needed to
text is longer, but there are also deliberately truncated the canon to avoid eliminate the use within their commu-
interesting additions to the Masoretic messianic prophecy pointing toward nities of texts useful to those whom they
text that are not found in the LXX. The Jesus Christ (see Justin Martyr, Trypho considered heretics (e.g., Christians,
text on which the LXX is based is as 71-73). Gnostics, and Hellenizers). Particularly,
ancient as the Masoretic text, as testified For instance, Isaiah 7:14 in the LXX they did not want to use in their services
by the Dead Sea scrolls and many other says, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a texts that the Christians could use to
ancient witnesses. son"—this clearly refers to the Virgin demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the
A Standardized Jewish Text Birth of the Messiah. On the other hand, Messiah promised by the Prophets of the
Judaism was quite fluid at the time of the Pharisees' version of Isaiah found in Old Testament. The canon, or list of
Christ. There were seven distinct sects of the Masoretic text only mentions a accepted texts. that the Jews produced as
the Jews in the early first century, accord- "young woman." Moreover, many of the their standard is significantly shorter than
ing to Eusebius. The different sects wisdom texts from the Deuterocanonical the LXX and came to be known as the
accepted the authority of different books, particularly Sirach, were Masoretic text.
collections of books (e.g., the Sadducees commonly used by the Church as
and Samaritans accepted only the five catechetical reading for converts. It is not W hat Is the C h ristian O ld
books of the Prophet Moses, the Torah), surprising that the Pharisees would want Testament? This distinction between
and there were often significant to exclude these "Church texts" from the Jewish version of the Old Testament
differences in the composition of the their official Hebrew version of the Old (Hebrew Masoretic text) and the
books they accepted in common. Testament. Christian versior of the Old Testament
Sometimes the same sect might even Since the Jews had never set an exact (Greek LXX) woulc not have been a
make use of multiple text bases, or as serious concern for the Church if it
 ORTHODOX ROM AN CATHOLIC PROTESTANT OLD
OLD TESTAMENT OLD TESTAMENT TESTAMENT
Genesis
By Daniel Lieuwen Exodus
Genesis Genesis
Leviticus Exodus Exodus
Numbers Leviticus Leviticus
Greek-speaking Church in the East. In the Deuteronomy Numbers Numbers
Joshua Deuterono Deuteronom
fifth century, St. Jerome produced what Judges — my y
became the standard Latin version of the Ruth
1 Kingdoms (= 1 Samuel) Joshu Joshua
Old Testament. However, instead of basing 2 Kingdoms (= 2 Samuel) a Judges
his translation on the LXX, St. Jerome 3 Kingdoms (= 1 Kings) Judge Ruth
moved to Jerusalem, lived with a Jewish 4 Kingdoms (= 2 Kings) s Ruth 1 Samuel
family to learn Hebrew, and translated the I Paralipomenon (= I 2 Samuel
Chronicles) 1 Kings
Old Testament based on an early version of 2 Paralipomenon (= 2 2 Kings 1 Kings
the Masoretic text. Chronicles) 3 Kings 2 Kings
1 Esdras 4 Kings 1 Chronicles
Jerome's translation, together with a 2 Esdras 2
2 Chronicles
Nehemiah E z r a
translation of the New Testament into Tobit 1 Esdras
Jud it Nehemiah
Latin, came to be called the Vulgate and h 2
included most of the Deuterocanonical, or Esth Esdras
Apocryphal, books of the Old Testament, er Tobit
but separated them from the rest. It also 1 Maccabees Judith - Esther
2 Maccabees Esther
preserved many of the Christological 3 Maccabees
Psalms 4
1
prophecies which later versions of the Job Maccabees
Masoretic text omit. But because it was Proverbs of Solomon
Ecclesiastes Psalms Psalms
Asma (Canticle of Canticles) Job
based on a-text tradition different from that of Wisdom of Solomon Job
Wisdom of Sirach Proverbs of Solomon Proverbs of
the LXX, significant differences between Solomon
Hose Ecclesiastes
the Vulgate O ld Testament and the LXX a Ecclesiastes
Canticle of Canticles Song of Solomon
are evident. Amo Wisdom of Solomon
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Latin s Ecciesiasticus
Mica (Sirach) Hos e
Vulgate was the standard translation of the h Joel
Old Testament used in the W est, while the Hosea a
Obadiah Amos
LXX remained the standard in the East. Jonah Amos
Nahum Micah Micah
W hile the New Testament of the earliest Habakku Joel
Joel
versions of the Vulgate is very similar to k Obadia Obadiah
the Greek New Testament used by the Zephaniah h Jonah J o n a h
Haggai Nahum
Eastern Churches, the Old Testaments Zechariah Nahum
differed somewhat. But this did not present Malachi Habakkuk Habakkuk
Isaiah Zephaniah
a significant problem for the Church at that Jeremiah Zephaniah Haggai
time. Baruch Haggai Zechariah
Epistle of Jeremiah Zechariah Malachi
The W estern Council of Hippo (393) Lamentations Malach
Ezekiel Isaiah
was probably the first council to specify the Daniel i Isaiah Jeremiah
limits of the New Testament canon, and it 4 Maccabees 6
Jeremiah
accepted the twenty-seven— book canon Baruch (incl. Epistle of
Jeremiah) Lamentations
that we have today, allowing only these, Ezekiel
Lamentations
books to be read in church under the name Ezekiel Daniel 5

of "canonical writings." The discussion of

the limits of the New Testament canon
continued for centuries, but by the early 1Including the Prayer of Manasseh.
Sometimes 2 Esdras and Nehemiah are combined into one book as 2 Esdras.
sixth century, nearly all Christians Esther here does not include those sections called "Additions to Esther."
3

recognized only the twenty-seven books in The numbering of the Psalms diverges after Psalm 8. The Septuagint also includes one additional
our current New Testament as canonical. Psalm.
(To this day, the Nestorian recognize a Daniel here does not include those sections separately labelled as "The Song of the Three
5

tw entytw o — b o o k s u b s e t a n d th e Children," "Daniel and Susannah," or "Daniel, Bel and the Snake (Dragon)."
Ethiopians a superset of the New 4 Maccabees is always in an appendix.
6

Testament.) clearly decided or closed by the Church. It est Christians was the LXX. However, the
is clear from the quotations from the Old books cited as Scripture vary widely even
The canon of the Old Testament
Testament by the New Testament writers among the New Testament writers. For
and other very early Christian witnesses that example, St. Jude, the stepbrother of the
the preferred and almost exclusive Lord, in his canonical New Testament let-
 believe that the thirty-nine books in the
Most of the Deuterocanonical books truncated, missionary-society-produced Old
Testaments were the only "true" books of the
Old Testament.
are quoted or alluded to as Scripture Most evangelical Protestants in America
are heirs of this missionary movement.
by the Apostles, the Church Fathers, Consequently, many Americans who take the
B ible seriously hold a grave mis-
understanding about the Old Testament.
and even Jesus Christ Himself. They sincerely but mistakenly believe that
the Deuterocanonical books of the Old
Testament are not a part of the Christian
Although modern English translations Bible. They are ignorant of the fact that most
Today, the only Christian group to include
of the Old Testament take into consider- of the Deuterocanonical books are quoted or
Enoch in the canon of the Old Testament is
ation the LXX and other text traditions, they alluded to as Scripture by the Apostles, the
the Ethiopian Coptics.
have continued to rely principally on the Church Fathers, and even Jesus Christ
In fact, differences in Old Testament Himself.
canons exist among most major Christian M asoretic tradition. This has led to the
groups in spite of a common New Testa- sometimes embarrassing situation of an
ment canon. Most Protestants reject the English Bible in which the New Testament —
A Septuagint Revival
Deuterocanonical books completely. The quotations of the Old Testament are very
different from the supposed "original" Currently there is no translation of the LXX
Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox lists into modern English. Thank God that the St.
of accepted Deuterocanonical books differ found in the Old Testament translation in-
cluded in the same Bible. Athanasius Academy has undertaken the Old
(the Greek list is longer). There are even Testament Orthodox Study Bible project in
slight differences between the Russian For example, the New Revised Stan- order to provide a good translation of the
Orthodox and Greek Orthodox versions of
-

dard Version of the Bible has Paul quoting LXX into contemporary English. However,
the Old Testament. However, these dis- Isaiah as saying , "He who believes in him
-

this project will not be completed for a few

tinctions are irrelevant to most English- [Messiah] will not be put to shame" more years. In the meantime, an excellent
speaking Christians, because most Bibles (Romans 9:33). The footnote in-the New translation of many of the Deuterocanonical
published in English omit the Deutero- Oxford Annotated edition of the NRSV books is available in most editions of the
canonical books completely. refers the reader to Isaiah 28:16, which New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
reads only, "One who trusts will not panic." However, for the thirty-nine books of the
Just as the Protestant acceptance of the Protestant Old Testament, it is based
The Protestant Canon
Masoretic text of the Old Testament had primarily on the Masoretic text. Sir Lancelot
Most Bibles that are available in North
little to do with theology, the Protestant Brendon's The Septuagint with Apocrypha
America today are published by Protestants;
omission of the Deuterocanonical books can be used to supplement the NRSV,
consequently, the Old Testaments in these
from the Old Testament has very little to do although its lan guage is somewhat archaic.
Bibles are translations based on the Jewish
with theology, although in the past hundred Holy Transfiguration Monastery's translation
Masoretic text and omit the Deutero-
years or so it has taken on theological of the LXX Psalter (and Biblical Canticles)
canonical books. The historical reasons for
significance among many Protestant groups. is also available and highly recommended.
this appear almost accidental, and most
English-speaking Christians are unaware of Until the mid-nineteenth century, most M any prayers in the Church are based
them. Protestants accepted the Deuterocanonical on prayers found in the Deuterocanonical
books as inspired in at least some limited books. The stories (or full stories) of many
The Protestant Reformers' emphasis on sense. For example, the original version of saints and angels celebrated in the liturgical
original languages (coming out of their the King James B ible, the most popular calendar of the Orthodox Church are found
Renaissance heritage) led most of the Re- version of the Bible in English, included in these books. The W isdom of Solomon and
formers to insist on using the Old Testament most of the Deuterocanonical books. And the Book of Sirach, listed among the
canon available to them in Hebrew, which for many years in England, it was even il- Deuterocanonical books, are storehouses of
had become standard among the Jews (the legal to publish a Bible without these books. wisdom on a par with Proverbs. Edification
Masoretic text). During the late Middle
They continued to be included in al- and inspiration await those who take the time
Ages, the Germans and Englishmen who
most all Protestant versions of the Bible prayerfully to read these important books of
began to translate the Bible into "the
until the missionary movement of the first the Church.
language of the people" were ijno-rant of
the importance of the LXX (or in some part of the nineteenth century. In order to
cases even completely ignorant of its save on shipping costs, missionary Bible Dr. Daniel Lieuwen is a researcher at Bell
existence). They assumed that the Hebrew societies began publishing partial Bibles Labs and a Reader at St. Elizabeth the New
Masoretic text used by the European Jews (New Testaments, Gospels, etc.). Converts Martyr Orthodox Church, Somerville, New
of their day was more authentic than the and religious movements that were born out Jersey. He is a great lover of church history,
Latin Vulgate, which in their mind was of this missionary movement came to especially early church history.
tainted by its association with the Latin
Church based in Rome.