Not a whole essay, but I do have thoughts on the matter. I was actually discussing this one a while ago on reddit.
I think Jesus was referring his audience back to God. In his culture they didn't say God's name, but it was understood as "I am," which they did not speak. So just saying that out loud would have been highly provocative at the time.
Throughout the whole passage Jesus is trying to discuss God with these hard-headed people, and all they can focus on is Abraham. Even in verse 27 it states that they didn't know Jesus was talking about God.
So finally at the end Jesus had to say the most provocative thing he could in that moment to get his point across: "Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was YAHWEH!" And then they flipped out, likely still not even understanding what he was saying...
I think you have it backward on the use of the Septuagint among early Christians.
Hellenistic Jewish literature formed the ideological framework for the New Testament authors, as noted in the previous chapter. Almost all of the direct citations, however, come from the Scriptures that were later canonized in the Hebrew Bible. Many studies on the New Testament authors’ use of the Jewish Scriptures have demonstrated conclusively that the writers most often, if not always, used the Septuagint instead of the Hebrew Scriptures. In only a few cases is the question still open. Given the conclusions regarding access to textual sources noted in the previous chapter, however, an overly dependent reliance on textual sources is cautioned. The use of the Septuagint is important because the different emphases and even different text forms of the Septuagint mean that the New Testament authors were carrying forward ideas that would not have been possible had they been using the Hebrew.
Law, Timothy Michael, 'The Septuagint in the New Testament', When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible (2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 26 Sept. 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199781713.003.0009, accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Do you have anything on John 8:58?
Not a whole essay, but I do have thoughts on the matter. I was actually discussing this one a while ago on reddit.
I think Jesus was referring his audience back to God. In his culture they didn't say God's name, but it was understood as "I am," which they did not speak. So just saying that out loud would have been highly provocative at the time.
Throughout the whole passage Jesus is trying to discuss God with these hard-headed people, and all they can focus on is Abraham. Even in verse 27 it states that they didn't know Jesus was talking about God.
So finally at the end Jesus had to say the most provocative thing he could in that moment to get his point across: "Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was YAHWEH!" And then they flipped out, likely still not even understanding what he was saying...
I think you have it backward on the use of the Septuagint among early Christians.
Hellenistic Jewish literature formed the ideological framework for the New Testament authors, as noted in the previous chapter. Almost all of the direct citations, however, come from the Scriptures that were later canonized in the Hebrew Bible. Many studies on the New Testament authors’ use of the Jewish Scriptures have demonstrated conclusively that the writers most often, if not always, used the Septuagint instead of the Hebrew Scriptures. In only a few cases is the question still open. Given the conclusions regarding access to textual sources noted in the previous chapter, however, an overly dependent reliance on textual sources is cautioned. The use of the Septuagint is important because the different emphases and even different text forms of the Septuagint mean that the New Testament authors were carrying forward ideas that would not have been possible had they been using the Hebrew.
Law, Timothy Michael, 'The Septuagint in the New Testament', When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible (2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 26 Sept. 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199781713.003.0009, accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Interesting take! I completely disagree:
1. Paul's Background:
- Trained Pharisee (Acts 22:3)
- Studied under Gamaliel
- Fluent in Hebrew
- Wrote majority of NT
- Would have prioritized Hebrew texts in his training
2. Book of Enoch Citations:
- James 5:1 references 1 Enoch 94:8
- Jude 1:14-15 quotes 1 Enoch 1:9
- 1 Peter 3:19-20 references Enochic traditions
- 2 Peter 2:4 draws from Enoch
- Revelation contains multiple Enochic parallels
- Enoch was not in the Septuagint
3. Logical Fallacies:
- Writing/quoting in Greek doesn't prove Septuagint use
- Similar Greek translations would naturally occur
- NT authors were multilingual
- Greek audience necessitated Greek writing
- Hebrew-to-Greek translation could/would match Septuagint without depending on it
4. Jewish Religious Context:
- Deep reverence for Hebrew texts
- Emphasis on Hebrew literacy in religious leadership
- Strong tradition of text preservation
- Cultural importance of original language
- Ongoing practice of Hebrew study
Thanks for the comment! God bless