Oldest New Testament Manuscripts: Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek?

[veeveevenn]

This is fabulous info and argument! I love this thank you. Going to listen a few times till I can memorize some of this. Thank you so much.

[williambrewer]

You presented some very good arguments. Thank you.

[garypoteet]

It would be interesting to know how many Hebrew and Aramaic texts the Catholic church destroyed during both of the inquisition.

[chuckperschbacher]

Buchanan in 1806 found in Cochin, India Jewish community full Hebrew Brit Chadashah, which are of late coming to light.

[PoloMaldonadoM]

Wasn't that while the Temple was being destroyed and Jerusalem eradicated, the Romans burnt all the Hebrew and Aramaic original texts?

[ScottRachelson]

There are many instances in the New Testament (NT) where Old Testament (OT) passages are quoted or referenced. In many of these cases, the NT authors are quoting from the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, rather than from the Hebrew text itself. The Septuagint was widely used in the early Christian community, especially among Greek-speaking Jews.


How Do We Know They Are Quoted from the Septuagint?

The key to identifying when NT authors quote from the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) is by comparing the wording of the NT citation with the LXX and MT. Differences in phrasing, vocabulary, and word order help indicate whether the NT writer relied on the Greek or Hebrew text.

Here are some examples:
1. Matthew 1:23 (Isaiah 7:14)

NT Verse (Matthew 1:23): "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."
Septuagint (LXX - Isaiah 7:14): "ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ."
Masoretic Text (MT - Isaiah 7:14): "הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ עִמָּנוּ אֵל"

Key Point: The Septuagint uses "παρθένος" (parthenos), which means "virgin, " while the Hebrew text uses "עַלְמָה" (almah), which generally means "young woman." The NT follows the LXX in using "virgin."
2. Hebrews 1:6 (Deuteronomy 32:43)

NT Verse (Hebrews 1:6): "And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’"
Septuagint (LXX - Deuteronomy 32:43): "εὐφράνθητε, οὐρανοί, ἅμα αὐτῷ, καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ."
Masoretic Text (MT - Deuteronomy 32:43): "הַרְנִינוּ גּוֹיִם עַמּוֹ כִּי־דַם עֲבָדָיו יִקּוֹם וְנָקָם יָשִׁיב לְצָרָיו וְכִפֶּר אַדְמָתוֹ עַמּוֹ"

Key Point: The command for "all God’s angels to worship him" is found in the LXX but is missing from the Hebrew text. The writer of Hebrews is clearly relying on the LXX.
3. Romans 3:12 (Psalm 14:3)

NT Verse (Romans 3:12): "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
Septuagint (LXX - Psalm 14:3): "πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἄμα ἠχρεώθησαν· οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός."
Masoretic Text (MT - Psalm 14:3): "כֻּלּוֹ סָר יַחְדָּו נֶאֱלָחוּ אֵין עֹשֵׂה־טוֹב אֵין גַּם אֶחָד"

Key Point: The LXX and MT are similar here, but Paul’s wording more closely aligns with the LXX's phrasing.
4. Acts 7:14 (Exodus 1:5)

NT Verse (Acts 7:14): "Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all."
Septuagint (LXX - Exodus 1:5): "πᾶσαι δὲ αἱ ψυχαὶ ἐξελθοῦσαι ἐκ Ιακωβ ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε."
Masoretic Text (MT - Exodus 1:5): "וַיִּהְיוּ כָּל־נֶפֶשׁ יֹצְאֵי יֶרֶךְ־יַעֲקֹב שִׁבְעִים נָפֶשׁ"

Key Point: The LXX lists 75 people, while the Hebrew text lists 70. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 follows the LXX number.
5. 1 Peter 2:22 (Isaiah 53:9)

NT Verse (1 Peter 2:22): "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
Septuagint (LXX - Isaiah 53:9): "ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ."
Masoretic Text (MT - Isaiah 53:9): "וַיִּתֵּן אֶת־רְשָׁעִים קִבְרוֹ וְאֶת־עָשִׁיר בְּמֹתָיו עַל לֹא־חָמָס עָשָׂה וְלֹא־מִרְמָה בְּפִיו"

Key Point: The phrase "no deceit was found in his mouth" directly mirrors the LXX wording rather than the Hebrew text, which has a more complex structure.


Cross-Referencing

You can use an interlinear Bible or specialized Bible software (like Bible Hub or Logos) that allows you to compare the Greek LXX with both the Greek NT and the Hebrew MT. Additionally, specific scholarly resources like The Greek New Testament edited by Nestle-Aland, which has extensive cross-referencing with the LXX, would be useful.

[zachfanton]

Aren’t there Aramaic fragments of The Kethuvim Netzarim that date back to the 1st century?

[charlesiragui]

Rabbi Trimm is using the term "ancient Christians" as a kind of shorthand for 2nd century gentile Christianity when he says that they did not care about the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. This elides the issue of 1st century Christianity and its shifting demographics. The hellenization of the Jesus movement is documented in Acts in two stages: 1) the immediate split between Aramaic speaking Jews and Hellenistic Jews and 2) Gentiles converted by Paul. This means that almost immediately pressure came to produce Greek-language texts (and of course the Septuagint provided spiritual justification for doing so). The fascinating question he is raising is the implicit existence of Aramaic texts for the original local followers of Jesus. And because papyrus has a much shorter life than parchment or even paper, it is not surprising that we have no Aramaic texts surviving: they were not the standard texts once the Greek appeared and were intelligible to far fewer. And interesting example of this is the mid 2nd century Diatesseron (a harmonization of the 4 gospels), a well attested Aramaic text that had widespread use in Syria for centuries but was eventually replaced by the Peshita (the 4 gospels in Syriac). Though widely used liturgically, the Diatesseron disappeared completely until a version was found in the 19th century. This shows how powerful common use is to the preservation of a text in this period.

[willgeorge]

I think Christians have not been interested in Hebrew because we believed the nt was written in Greek. I was going to say I took an interest because of Nehemia Gordon showing that the gospels were written in Hebrew, but it's not totally true. I started beening interested about 2 years ago when I found that almost everything Jesus said came out of the OT!

[BvVb]

SEPTUAGINT was translated from PALEO-HEBREW, a version of the Old Testament some 1000 years older that The Masoretic. NO SCROLL in existence any longer, so we must pick from the LXX as much as we can (the LXX is a very poor translation, with some omissions and strange additions).

The MASORETIC, kept in almost perfect order, was however changed or modified in antiquity in quite a few places, especially where prophecy regarding the coming of Messiah is concerned.

The BEST Version of The New Testament is actually in ARAMAIC, the text of the oldest codex a bit older than ANY EXTANT GREEK manuscript or codex.

Also, Greek was severely vandalized from the late first and second centuries... Aramaic was better preserved by The Eastern Christians than the Greek of The Western world... Bible has a very interesting and intriguing

[Jamestu]

So how do i know the bible is not corrupted

[rustneversleeps]

Christians, the majority, dont do the commandments of God.
Dispite this passage: Mark 12.29/D'varim 6.4 ¶And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Yeshua is Living Torah

Some even teach God is a trinity.

Romans 3:2 KJV — Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them(Jews) were committed the oracles of God.

This would include the writings?

I find hard to believe that Peter and John could read and write multi languages. Being fisherman from a Galilee brought up in the Synagogue system were taught Hebrew, probably only spoke the other most common languages in the region on a need to know basis . At the market for example.
The whole council of Nicaea, I believe was influenced by antisemitism. We have been given a sterilized Jesus . Sterilized of the God Abraham Isaac and Jacob, and His Commandments.




Shalom

[Cinderelement]

There's the cochin copy of the new testament and it is in the original hebrew.

[DoubleAAmazin]

The New Testament is a Hellenistic work, the pinnacle of human thought.