Faculty of Theology
Department of New Testament Studies
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
The focus of this research project entitled: “A Quest for the Vorlage of the explicit quotations in Ad Hebraeos” is on the use of the Septuagint (Greek) Bible translation of the Old Testament in the New Testament.
To date, the majority of research regarding the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, focused on the use of the Hebrew text and not on the Septuagint. Early Christians preferred, however, to use the Septuagint as their Bible instead of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Septuagint is of special significance to the people of Africa because Hellenistic Jews, based in Alexandria, Egypt, did this translation - out of the Hebrew into Greek.
The translation of the first five books of the Torah is the oldest and dates back to the third century BC. In addition the Septuagint also provides researchers with insight into the cultural and intellectual settings of Hellenistic Judaism.
They translated the Hebrew word for God “Yahweh” in Greek into “Lord” – which was used later by early Christians to refer to Jesus.
The Septuagint contains the books of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the deutero-canonical books (or Apocrypha) - that is, those not in the Hebrew version but accepted by some branches of the Christian church.
The book of Hebrews contains 34 explicit quotations which represents the most and longest quotations from the Old Testament in comparison to other Bible books.
The researcher investigated whether their origin goes back to the Septuagint and discovered that about 88% of all these quotations appeared already before the time of Hebrews – with more than 50% in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 23% in Philo of Alexandria (20 BC – 45 AD) and 15% in the New Testament documents that predates Hebrews.
Additional findings include:
· That the reading of the quotations used in the book of Hebrews, might point to an earlier version of the Septuagint than that which is known to us today;
· That some of the possible changes in the quotations that were previously ascribed to the author of Hebrews have textual support from existing ancient manuscripts; and
· That this research ultimately has implications for modern-day constructions of the original texts of the Bible and its translations.
Prof GJ Steyn
New Testament Studies
+27 (0) 12 420 2893
gert.steyn@up.ac.za
Research on Johannine ethics is a problematic and challenging field of research. In the past research was restricted to descriptive analyses of the love commandment. The lack of clear ethical material in this Gospel as well as the failure to develop proper categories for analysing the available material resulted in neglecting the ethical focus of the Gospel according to John.
By using analytical categories like identity, ethics, and ethos, and utilizing insights gained from narratological and social analyses the ethics of the Gospel of John is described in a broader and more representative way, not only focusing on the central love commandment.
It was shown that the Johannine group did not stand in rebellious reaction against the society they lived in – they acted according to the general customs (buying, eating, marrying, etc.) of the society. Neither did they reject the Jewish religion as religion, but rather seemed to absorb it.
The values of the Jewish law are embraced although the community’s interpretation of these laws differed from that of their Jewish opponents, since their interpretation was done in light of the presence of Jesus. It was the Christological interpretive framework of the community, which formed the basis for the conflict and led to a radical interpretation of the law in terms of love for the family of brothers (and sisters).
Because of the need of radical social redefinition in relation to their Jewish environment it was necessary to show that the only true love, the love of God, was focused in only one place: the family of God as it becomes evident in loving the followers of Jesus.
Their identity is further confirmed by habitual actions like washing feet while meeting at their common meal. This confirmed their shared and unique identity. They also pursued the shared mission Jesus had given them through the power of the Spirit-Paraclete. Within a context of hatred and opposition, they know who they are, what they should do, and indeed did it.
Prof JG van der Watt
New Testament Studies
+27 (0) 12 420 2384
jan.vanderwatt@up.ac.za
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