The Septuagint, LXX, origin, textual transmission, synagogues, church

The Septuagint (LXX)

282 BC

"Scripture cannot be broken" (Jesus, John 10:35)

"My word will accomplish what I desire and succeed
in the purpose for which I sent it." (Isa 55:11)

Steve Rudd November 2017

Six Manuscripts of the Old Testament
Name	Date	Authors	Place	Content	Language
Mosaic (ST)	1446 BC	Moses	Sinai	Book of the Law, Torah	Hieroglyphic Hebrew
Naiothic (SNT)	1050 BC	Samuel	Naioth, Ramah	Torah, Joshua	Paleo-Hebrew
Samaritan Pentateuch (SP)	623/610 BC	Samuel	Naioth, Ramah	Torah (copy from Josiah)	Paleo-Hebrew
Quattuordecim (XIV)	458-445 BC	Ezra “the 14”	Jerusalem	Tanakh, (Except Neh., Mal.)	Aramaic-Hebrew
Septuagint (LXX)	282 BC	“the 70”	Alexandria	Tanakh	Greek
Masoretic (MT)	160 AD	Rabbi Yose ben Halafta	Zippori	Tanakh	Aramaic-Hebrew

2. 6 Old Testament Manuscripts

3. Origin of the 4 Hebrew scripts used by Jews and in the bible

4. Book of Law in Hieroglyphic Hebrew alphabet script

I. Chronological Birth and function of the Septuagint:

1. 282 BC: Birth of the Septuagint (LXX): Historical accounts of the Greek Torah translation process in 282 BC

2. 280 BC: Birth of Synagogues: Synagogues originated at Alexandria Egypt in 280 BC spawned by the Septuagint

3. 150 BC: Septuagint Completed (Gen – Malachi): All Old Testament books 9Tanakh) fully translation into Greek by 150 BC

4. 150 BC: All synagogue worship services in Greek: The Septuagint was the “KJV” of first century synagogues and churches

5. 150 AD: Jews corrupt the Synagogue Septuagint Tanakh: Jews alter the LXX, then abandoned it forever.

6. 160 AD: Shem as Melchizedek: Test case for accuracy of LXX vs. Masoretic

II. Anti-Christian, theologically driven, single textual variants in the Old Testament: LXX vs. MT

1. Shem was NOT Melchizedek. Shem died before Abraham was born.

2. Shem was second-born and NOT Melchizedek. Japheth “the Great” was firstborn in the LXX.

3. Angels are commanded to worship Jesus Christ in Deut 32:43 in the LXX (Heb 1:6)

4. The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 end in 33 AD with the resurrection of Christ in the LXX.

III. Single textual variants in the Old Testament: LXX vs. MT

1. Methuselah was 187 years old when Lamech was born not 167: Gen 5:25

2. Jacob enters Egypt with 70 or 75 persons: Gen 46:27; Ex 1:5; Deut 10:22; Acts 7:14

3. Genesis Flood Chronology: Three calculated, deliberate variants in Gen 7:11; 8:4, 14.

4. 471 LXX Verses Identical with SP and Different from MT

IV. Dead Sea scrolls that validate the Septuagint against the Masoretic text:

1. Hebrew DSS that agree with the LXX against the MT

2. Hebrew DSS that disagree with both the LXX and MT

3. Hebrew DSS that validate the Samaritan Pentateuch and LXX

4. 154 Dead Sea Scroll variants identical to SP & LXX against the MT

V. Septuagint Chronology of Gen 5, 11 is correct:

1. Creation dates of all reliable ancient literary sources validate the longer Septuagint Chronology:

a. Every reliable literary source before 100 AD uses the longer LXX chronology and not the shorter Masoretic.

2. Both Philo and Josephus were using the extant Hebrew manuscript of their day which followed the longer LXX chronology.

a. This is a huge finding because they were NOT using the Greek Septuagint used in Synagogues as their source text, but the Hebrew Tanakh used in the Jerusalem Temple.

b. In fact, many scholars make the superficial (and wrong) conclusion that Josephus and Philo used the Septuagint BECAUSE they have the longer chronology.

c. The correct conclusion is the Philo and Josephus were using the Pre-Masortic Hebrew Text when the numbers agreed with the Greek LXX.

3. The literary sources below become the primary proof that the Jews around 160 AD in Zippori changed the Hebrew text for anti-Christian theological reasons.

4. Today the Septuagint contains the original chronological numbers for the age of the earth at 5554 BC.

225 BC: Demetrius the chronographer: 5500 BC

170 BC: Book of Jubilees: 3906 BC (estimate)

158 BC: Eupolemus: 5307 BC

10 AD: Testament of Moses: 4221 BC Follows Book of Jubilees

30 AD: Philo of Alexandria: c. 5500 BC Uses Hebrew text

60 AD: Pseudo-Philo 5886 BC

70 AD: Josephus 5467 BC

90 AD: 2 Esdras 14 5464 BC

100 BC: Testament of Levi and the Twelve Patriarchs

150 AD: Justin Martyr Jews corrupt their own Greek Synagogue Tanakh

160 AD: Seder Olam Rabbah: 3761 BC

221 AD: Julius Africanus Sextus: 5500 BC

384 AD: Vulgate by Jerome: 4114 AD Latin translation of Hebrew

400 AD: Augustine: believed both 5554 BC and 4114 BC were inspired

5. Test case for accuracy of LXX vs. Masoretic: Shem as Melchizedek

a. Jews today believe that Shem is Melchizedek because the Masoretic chronology has Shem living down past the birth of Jacob. It is impossible for Shem to be Melchizedek using the Septuagint chronology because Shem dies 600 years before Abraham is born.

b. If we can find a single ancient literary source that shows that the Jews believed Shem was Melchizedek, this would falsify the theory that the Jews corrupted the Hebrew chronologies of Genesis 5, 11 at Zippori in 160 AD.

c. In fact, just like the literary sources above all validate the longer LXX chronology, so too do all the literary sources refute the MT chronology because none of them equate Shem with Melchizedek.

d. 100 BC: The earliest Jewish literary sources make no connection of Shem was Melchizedek as witnessed in the Dead Sea Scrolls: 1QGenesis Apocryphon.

e. At the time of Christ, Jewish messianic expectation was of the arrival of Melchizedek as a “heavenly being” not Shem as witnessed in the Dead Sea Scrolls: 11QMelchizedek.

f. 160 AD: The earliest literary source that equates Melchizedek with Shem is Seder Olam Rabbah in 160 AD

g. The Seder Olam again, is the first reference in history and was the basis for corrupting the pre-Masoretic text in the chronologies of Gen 5 and 11.

Primeval Chronology of Genesis 5
	Greek Septuagint (LXX) (Correct original)			Hebrew Masoretic (MT) (Corrupted in 150 AD)			Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) (corrupted)
Man	Age at Son's Birth	Remaining Years	Life	Age at Son's Birth	Remaining Years	Life	Age at Son's Birth	Remaining Years	Life
Adam	230	700	930	130	800	930	130	800	930
Seth	205	707	912	105	807	912	105	807	912
Enosh	190	715	905	90	815	905	90	815	905
Cainan	170	740	910	70	840	910	70	840	910
Mahalalel	165	730	895	65	830	895	65	830	895
Jared	162	800	962	162	800	962	62	785	847
Enoch	165	200	365	65	300	365	65	300	365
Methuselah	187	782	969	187	782	969	67	653	720
Lamech	182¹	565	753	182	595	777	53	600	653
Noah	502²	450	950	502²	450³	950	502²	450	950
Total years⁴	2158 years			1558 years			1209 years
Flood⁵	3298 BC			2518 BC⁶			3108 BC
Steve Rudd 2017 AD

1. Lamech’s begetting age for Noah in the LXX reads 188 but this is a scribal error and the correct age Lamech’s son Noah was born is in his 182th year in the MT which is the autograph reading.

2. Japheth was firstborn when Noah was 500, Shem second-born when Noah was 502 and Ham the youngest. We know for certain that Shem was not firstborn as per Gen 11:10 and that Ham was the youngest as per Gen 9:24 which obviously makes Japheth the oldest. In Gen 10:21 English translators are split on which of Shem and Japheth were the oldest. The Hebrew in the MT and SP could mean either that Japheth or Shem were the older brother. The Greek LXX calls Japheth “the great” which may mean he is older than Shem or that he was older and/or more famous than Shem.

3. Gen 9:28-29 says Noah lived 350 years after the flood but for a total life of 950 years. Genesis 7:6 says the flood occurred when Noah was 600 years old.

4. Creation to birth of Shem in Noah’s 502^nd year as per Gen 11:10.

5. Flood occurred in the 600^th year of Noah or 98 years after Shem was begotten when Noah was 502 years old.

6. Because Jews have wrongly believed from 300 BC to the present that Terah was 70 years old when Abraham was born instead of the correct begetting age of 130 you must add 60 years to the MT flood date of 2558 BC to arrive at the actual MT flood date of 2618 BC.

Primeval Chronology of Genesis 11
	Septuagint (LXX) (Correct original)		Masoretic (MT) (Corrupted in 150 AD)		Samaritan (SP) (Corrupted)
Man	Year at Birth	Rem./Life⁹	Year at Birth	Rem./Life⁹	Year at Birth	Rem. Years	Life⁹
Shem¹	100	500/600	100	500/600	100	500	600
Arphaxad	135	430/565	35	403/438	135	303	438
Cainan	130	330/460	Skipped	-	skipped	-	-
Shelah	130	330/460	30	403/433	130	303	433
Eber	134	370/504	34	430/464	134	270	404
Peleg	130	209/339	30	209/239	130	109	239
Reu	132	207/339	32	207/239	132	107	239
Serug	130	200/330	30	200/230	130	100	230
Nahor	79	129/208	29	119/148	79	69	149
Terah²	130	75/205	130	75/205	70⁸ (130)	75 (15⁸)	145
Gen 11 Yrs³	1230 years		450 years		1100 years
Gen 5 Yrs	2158 years		1558 years		1209 years
Abram born	2166 BC		2166 BC		2166 BC
Creation⁴	5554 BC		4174 BC⁵		4475 BC
Flood⁶	3298 BC		2518 BC⁷		3168 BC
Steve Rudd 2017 AD

1. Shem begat Arphaxad at age 100 which was two years after the flood.

2. Christians know from Acts 7:4 that Abraham was born when Terah was 130 years old not 70. This is an interpretive variance, not a textual one in spite of the fact that Jews from 300 BC to the present wrongly maintain that Terah was 70 when Abraham was born.

3. Total years from birth of Arphaxad to birth of Abraham in 2166 BC.

4. Creation date is derived by adding the begetting columns in both charts to the date Abraham was born in 2166 BC.

5. The Jews from 300 BC down to the present day wrongly set the age of Terah at the birth of Abraham at 70 which calculates an age of the earth at 4114 BC. The truth is that Terah was 130 years old, which calculates age of the earth according to the MT at 4114 BC + 60 = 4174 BC.

6. Flood date is calculated by subtracting [total Gen 5 years] from [creation date] and adding [98 years] because Shem was born in Noah’s 502^nd year and the flood occurred when Noah was 600 years old.

7. Because Jews have wrongly believed from 150 BC to the present that Terah was 70 years old when Abraham was born instead of the correct begetting age of 130 you must add 60 years to the MT flood date of 2458 BC to arrive at the actual MT flood date of 2518 BC.

8. While the numbers in the MT show that Terah was 130 when Abraham was born and that Abraham left Haran at age 75 after Terah died at age 205, the Jews incorrectly interpreted the birth of Abraham when Terah was 70. What this meant in their interpretation, was that Tarah continued to live in Haran for another 60 years after Abraham left for Canaan. This was always problematic until the Christian Bible explicitly stated that Abraham did not leave Haran until after the death of Terah at age 205 (see Acts 7:4). The Samaritans fudged the numbers for the life span of Terah from 205 down to 145 in order to have Terah die before Abraham left Haran. So in the Samaritan corrupted chronology they incorrectly have Abraham born when Terah was 70 and Terah dying at age 145 when Abraham leaves for Canaan at age 75. But today we are certain that Terah was 130 years old when Abraham was born which creates a huge problem for the Samaritan Pentateuch because this means Terah dies when Abraham is only 15 years old and now Abraham continues to live in Haran for another 60 years after Terah dies before he leaves for Canaan. This is clear proof of a corrupt and fabricated Samaritan chronology because the prevailing FALSE view of Jews as far back as 150 BC to the present, is that Terah was 70 when Abraham was begotten. Had the Samaritans just left the text alone, they never would have been caught red handed with irrefutable proof (Abraham was not 15 years old when Terah died), that they deliberately corrupted the Samaritan Pentateuch chronology in Gen 5,11.

9. Life numbers (total years lived) are not in the text of either the LXX or MT. However they are added in the SP. For example, in Gen 11:11 the Samaritan Pentateuch adds the words: “All the days of Shehm [Shem] were 600 years and he died”. The SP adds the total life years lived for each person in the Gen 11 chronology. This is a corruption of the original text.

Septuagint (LXX) Chronology
	Life	Birth	Death	Son
Adam	930	5554 BC	4624 BC	230
Seth	912	5324 BC	4412 BC	205
Enosh	905	5119 BC	4214 BC	190
Cainan	910	4929 BC	4019 BC	170
Mahalalel	895	4759 BC	3864 BC	165
Jered	962	4594 BC	3632 BC	162
Enoch	365	4432 BC	4067 BC	165
Methuselah	969	4267 BC	3298 BC	187
Lamech	777	4080 BC	3303 BC	182
Noah	950	3898 BC	2948 BC	502
Flood	3298 BC
Shem	600	3396 BC	2796 BC	100
Arpachshad	565	3296 BC	2731 BC	135
Kainan	460	3161 BC	2701 BC	130
Shelah	533	3031 BC	2498 BC	130
Eber	504	2901 BC	2397 BC	134
Peleg	339	2767 BC	2428 BC	130
Reu	339	2637 BC	2298 BC	132
Serug	330	2505 BC	2175 BC	130
Nahor	208	2375 BC	2167 BC	79
Terah	205	2296 BC	2091 BC	130
Abraham	175	2166 BC	1991 BC	100
Isaac	180	2066 BC	1886 BC	60
Jacob	147	2006 BC	1859 BC	90
All dates are in BC. To convert to After Creation, subtract from 5554