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9780199781720 English 0199781729 How did the New Testament writers and the earliest Christians come to adopt the Jewish scriptures as their first Old Testament? And why are our modern Bibles related more to the Rabbinic Hebrew Bible than to the Greek Bible of the early Church? The Septuagint, the name given to the translation of the Hebrew scriptures between the third century BC and the second century AD, played a central role in the Bibles history. Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek translations, along with several new Greek writings, became Holy Scripture in the early Church. Yet, gradually the Septuagint lost its place at the heart of Western Christianity. At the end of the fourth century, one of antiquitys brightest minds rejected the Septuagint in favor of the Bible of the rabbis. After Jerome, the Septuagint never regained the position it once had. Timothy Michael Law recounts the story of the Septuagints origins, its relationship to the Hebrew Bible, and the adoption and abandonment of the first Christian Old Testament., Most readers do not know about the Bible used almost universally by early Christians, or about how that Bible was birthed, how it grew to prominence, and how it differs from the one used as the basis for most modern translations. Although it was one of the most important events in the historyof our civilization, the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the third century BCE is an event almost unknown outside of academia. Timothy Michael Law offers the first book to make this topic accessible to a wider audience. Retrospectively, we can hardly imagine the history of Christian thought, and the history of Christianity itself, without the Old Testament. When the Emperor Constantine adopted the Christian faith, his fusion of the Church and the State ensured that the Christian worldview (which by this time hadabsorbed Jewish ideals that had come to them through the Greek translation) would leave an imprint on subsequent history. This book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first Christian OldTestament., Most readers of religious literature have no knowledge of the Bible that was used almost universally by early Christians, or of how that Bible was birthed, how it grew to prominence, and how it differs from the one used as the basis for most modern translations. Although it was one of the most important events in the history of our civilization, the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the third century BCE is an event almost unknown outside of academia. Timothy Michael Law offers the first book to make this topic accessible to a wider audience. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Jews found themselves in a world dominated by Greek values, Greek thought, and Greek language; gradual accommodation to the surrounding culture was unavoidable. They adapted to these changing circumstances by rendering God's Hebrew Word into Greek, partly to make it useful for Hellenized Jews, and partly for prestige. At first only the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, was translated but eventually the remaining Jewish Scriptures were also rendered into Greek, giving Greek-speaking Jews an entire body of Scripture that would rival and, as some would claim, replace the Hebrew. As Christianity ushered in a new era, this new faith's followers would commandeer, preserve and transmit the Greek translation of what they now called the "Old" Testament. During the first few centuries after the apostolic age, Christian thinkers and preachers would turn to different versions of the Greek Septuagint to find messages of inspiration and conviction for their readers. Retrospectively, we can hardly imagine the history of Christian thought, and the history of Christianity itself, without the Old Testament. When the Emperor Constantine adopted the Christian faith, his fusion of the Church and the State ensured that the Christian worldview (which by this time had absorbed Jewish ideals that had come to them through the Greek translation) would leave an imprint on subsequent political systems. The effect of Judaism's and Christianity's religious traditions upon the culture of the West--including its politics, art, music, and all else that might be called "civilization"--made it what it is today. This book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first Christian Old Testament, Timothy Michael Law offers the first book for non-specialists to illuminate the Septuagint and its significance for religious and world history.
9780199781720 English 0199781729 How did the New Testament writers and the earliest Christians come to adopt the Jewish scriptures as their first Old Testament? And why are our modern Bibles related more to the Rabbinic Hebrew Bible than to the Greek Bible of the early Church? The Septuagint, the name given to the translation of the Hebrew scriptures between the third century BC and the second century AD, played a central role in the Bibles history. Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek translations, along with several new Greek writings, became Holy Scripture in the early Church. Yet, gradually the Septuagint lost its place at the heart of Western Christianity. At the end of the fourth century, one of antiquitys brightest minds rejected the Septuagint in favor of the Bible of the rabbis. After Jerome, the Septuagint never regained the position it once had. Timothy Michael Law recounts the story of the Septuagints origins, its relationship to the Hebrew Bible, and the adoption and abandonment of the first Christian Old Testament., Most readers do not know about the Bible used almost universally by early Christians, or about how that Bible was birthed, how it grew to prominence, and how it differs from the one used as the basis for most modern translations. Although it was one of the most important events in the historyof our civilization, the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the third century BCE is an event almost unknown outside of academia. Timothy Michael Law offers the first book to make this topic accessible to a wider audience. Retrospectively, we can hardly imagine the history of Christian thought, and the history of Christianity itself, without the Old Testament. When the Emperor Constantine adopted the Christian faith, his fusion of the Church and the State ensured that the Christian worldview (which by this time hadabsorbed Jewish ideals that had come to them through the Greek translation) would leave an imprint on subsequent history. This book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first Christian OldTestament., Most readers of religious literature have no knowledge of the Bible that was used almost universally by early Christians, or of how that Bible was birthed, how it grew to prominence, and how it differs from the one used as the basis for most modern translations. Although it was one of the most important events in the history of our civilization, the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the third century BCE is an event almost unknown outside of academia. Timothy Michael Law offers the first book to make this topic accessible to a wider audience. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Jews found themselves in a world dominated by Greek values, Greek thought, and Greek language; gradual accommodation to the surrounding culture was unavoidable. They adapted to these changing circumstances by rendering God's Hebrew Word into Greek, partly to make it useful for Hellenized Jews, and partly for prestige. At first only the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, was translated but eventually the remaining Jewish Scriptures were also rendered into Greek, giving Greek-speaking Jews an entire body of Scripture that would rival and, as some would claim, replace the Hebrew. As Christianity ushered in a new era, this new faith's followers would commandeer, preserve and transmit the Greek translation of what they now called the "Old" Testament. During the first few centuries after the apostolic age, Christian thinkers and preachers would turn to different versions of the Greek Septuagint to find messages of inspiration and conviction for their readers. Retrospectively, we can hardly imagine the history of Christian thought, and the history of Christianity itself, without the Old Testament. When the Emperor Constantine adopted the Christian faith, his fusion of the Church and the State ensured that the Christian worldview (which by this time had absorbed Jewish ideals that had come to them through the Greek translation) would leave an imprint on subsequent political systems. The effect of Judaism's and Christianity's religious traditions upon the culture of the West--including its politics, art, music, and all else that might be called "civilization"--made it what it is today. This book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first Christian Old Testament, Timothy Michael Law offers the first book for non-specialists to illuminate the Septuagint and its significance for religious and world history.