Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 18, 1905

Question Corner

By Editor

1600.—The Septuagint.

Was not the Septuagint (or LXX) the earliest Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures?
Was it not made by seventy-two learned rabbis several hundred years before Christ?
Was it not in universal use and of unquestioned authority at the time of Christ and for a long time afterward?
Was not the Greek translation from which our English Old Testament is translated made long after the time of Christ?
How do you reconcile the startling disagreement in regard to chronology between the later translation and the Septuagint—especially in regard to the age of the patriarchs?
What good reason had the early church for adopting, and what good reason have modern scholars and theologians for retaining the later translation instead of the earlier and original one, the Septuagint?

Please elucidate this subject in the columns of the SIGNS at your convenience, and greatly oblige A SEEKER AFTER TRUTH.

It is impossible to give extended reply to the above questions. Therefore we reply briefly, and refer the reader to any good Bible Dictionary, such as Smith's, for fuller information.

1. Yes.

2. It was, according to tradition, made about B.C. 285, in Egypt, under the Ptolemies; and it is said that to seventy-two learned Jews was assigned the task. Some declare that these translators worked each singly, while others say they worked in pairs, each pair having two scribes, and that the work was finished in seventy-two days. Some parts of the translation are greatly inferior to other parts. It is not an excellent translation by any means, tho doubtless it was an honest attempt at one.

3. It was in extensive use in the time of Jesus, and was largely quoted from, because Greek was generally spoken. But it is not always followed by the New Testament writers. It could hardly be said that it was of unquestioned authority ever, except locally.

4. Our English Old Testament was not from the Greek, but the Hebrew, tho in all probability the Greek translation, the Septuagint, is from an older Hebrew text than our English Bible.

5. We do not try to reconcile them. There are good scholars who prefer the Septuagint, and vice versa.

6. This is answered in number 4. Our Hebrew Bible is not from the Greek, but a copy of older Hebrew copies. The Septuagint is a translation, probably the very first, from the Hebrew.

1601.—Ordinances and Baptism.

Should children who have not been baptized be permitted to partake in ordinances. A. C.

If properly instructed they would not. By baptism one comes into the church of Christ, and for His children is the Lord's Supper. And yet we would arbitrarily forbid no one. The best way is to teach what it means, what its object is, and then leave it with others.

1602.—Who Are They? Isa. 30:17.

When is the time to flee, spoken of in Isa. 30:17? Who are they that shall be left as a beacon on top of a mountain, and as an ensign? A. D. A.

The time referred to undoubtedly has reference to the last days. See verse 8, margin. The people referred to are doubtless the people of God; some of them full of unbelief and fear; some of them returning to Him in quietness and confidence.