But though she knew it not, Alexandria pro- vided them with something greater. Christianity, by the power of God and by the coming of Christ, sprang out of Judaism. ' Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet ; Vetus in Novo patet ' (Aug. ). By en- abling Jews and Gentiles to read the OT Scriptures, the Greek version, in spite of all its mistakes and grotesque mistranslations, revealed the guiding providence of God in Hebrew history, and the gradual development of religious ideas of which the OT is the record ; and above all it gave a last- ing impetus to the growth of Messianic expecta- tions. A train was laid which only needed the Divine spark to burst into flame. Christ came ' to send fire upon the earth,' and the LXX had been instrumental in supplying fuel.
The quotations from the OT in the NT are sel- dom mere literary adornments, such as a modern writer might introduce from Shakespeare or other classical authors ; they are for the most part used as a definite foundation for Christian teaching, or at least weighty illustrations of the writers' statements and arguments. Our Lord's teaching struck His hearers with amazement, because it did not blindly follow the footsteps of the scribes. Against the Jews He used their own Scriptures with conclusive force ; and with His loving but faint- hearted and ignorant disciples He adopted the same course ; ' beginning at Moses and all the prophets, lie expounded unto them in all the scrip- tures the things concerning himself (Lk 24-"). And His disciples afterwards followed His example both in their speeches and in their writings (Ac 8^^).
(b) The LXX played a large part in the moidding of Christian terminology. It is difficult to gauge the extent to which religious conceptions were affected by the results which ensued from the wedding of the Greek language to Hebrew thought. Their offspring the LXX was the parent of a yet nobler heir. There are few more interesting lines of study than to trace the debt which Christianity owed to the LXX in the matter of words and terms, and to see bow the borrowed terminology was con- secrated and adapted to higher uses.
604
SEPTUAGINT
SEPTUAGINT
3. The LXX must now be studied in two aspects, so far as it affected the four Gospels and the Apo- stolic conceptions of Christ's Person and work.
A. Direct quotations. — It will be convenient to give a list of the direct quotations from the OT in the Gospels, taken from Swete's Introduction, pp. 386 ff.
Mt.
Mk.
Lk.
OT
123
?23
Is 714* Ex 1312
26
Mic 52*
15
Hos 111*
18
Jer .S815
33
13
34-6
Is 403-5*
44
44
Dt83
6
lOf.
Ps 90iif-
7
12
Dt6i6
10
&
13
15f.
Is 9if-*
521
Ex 2013
27
14
31
Dt 24-
33
Nu 303 (cf. Dt 2321)
38
Ex 2124
43
Lv 1918
817
Is 534*
913 (127)
Hos 66
1110
12
727
Mai 31*
127
Hos 66
18-21
Is 421*
1314f.
69f.
35
4l8f.
Ps 772*
Is 61iff-+586*
154
710
Ex 2012 2117
8f.
6
948
Is 2913
6624
195f.
106-8
Gn 127+224
18f.
19
1820f.
Ex 2012-17
215
Zee 99+Is 6211*
13
1117
1946
Is 567+Jer 711
16
Ps82
42
1210
20"
11822f.
2224
19
28
Dt 255 (ef. Gn 388)
32
26
37
Ex yfi
37
2Uf.
1027a
Dt 64f.
39
31
27b
Lv 19I8
44
36 32f.
2042f.
Ps 1091*
Dt435
2415
1314
2237
Dn 1211 Is 5312*
2631
1427
Zee 137*
279f.
1113*
46
1534
nl23
Ps 2H*
J
Is 403
217
Ps 6810*
631
Ex 164-
15 (Ps 7724f.)
45
Is 5413
1034
Ps8l6
1215
Zee 99*
38
Is 531*
40
610
I3I8
Ps 40 (41)10
1525
3419 (685)*
1924
2119*
36
Ex 1246 (Nu 912, Ps 3321)*
37
Zee 1210*
(i. ) As regards the matter and 'purpose of these quotations, it is noticeable that of the 46 in the Synoptic Gospels 17 (marked with *) are ' Mes- sianic,' i.e. they are quoted as being predictions of facts connected with the life and work of Christ ; and of these, 6 (Mt 2142 2244 26^1 27^«, Lk 4i8f- 22^^) are cited by our Lord Himself. With these may be reckoned Mt 22^^, quoted as a proof of the resurrection of the dead. 6 (Mt 2^8 VS"*^- IS^^- "IV^- '" 2415) are quoted as predictions which have found — or, in the last passage, will find — fulfilment in the lives and characters of persons other than Christ, all except the first occurring in His own discourses. 19 of the remainder are quoted by our Lord (except Mk 12^^'-), and consist of legal and moral precepts, mostly from the Pentateuch, which should guide men's actions (with the ex- ception of those in Mt 5, which He quotes in order to contrast with them His own higher moral law). 3 which come under none of these heads are Lk 223, Mt 46 22^4 Of the 13 in the Fourth Gospel, 7 (marked with *) are ' Messianic,' all being quoted
by the writer (except 15^', which is by our Lord). In the rest of the NT, ' Messianic ' quotations occur chiefly in the Apostolic speeches in the Acts
(217-21. 25-28. 34f.r322f. (^737)25 ^m. ^6ti. 1333. 34. 35)_ ^nd In
Hebrews (1^ ( = 55)6. sf. iu-12. 13 96-8. 12. is 56 ( = 717. 2i\ 920 iQs-s). In the other Epistles see Ro ^"^ 10" 15^, 1 Co 15*5^ Gal 313, Eph 4*, 1 P 2«.