biblescholars.org

Have a question?? Submit a question
Only members can submit questions, if you are not a member, join now!

Question:

Dear Dr. Blizzard, I was having a discussion with a friend about there being an earlier hebrew gospel.and in our discussion we raised some questions about that premise and also the widespread use of the septuagint. How deep was the influence of the Greek Septuagint in the first century. Obviously it was quoted by the gospel writers? For instance was the teaching of jesus ever done in the greek language? Did the pharisee's teach in the Greek language ever? Would there ever have been a Greek Torah scroll?? What was used in the synagogue and rabbinic academies? Another question that came up was if Luke was a Greek trying to reach more gentiles why would he have written a gospel in Hebrew which was not the world language? My friend was also mentioning that maybe Edersheim had said that the Hebrew scrolls would have been too expensive and being written in greek made them much more accessible to the people. Any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Mark

Answer:

Dear Mark, To be perfectly honest with you, most of these questions are answered in the little book that we wrote some time ago on “Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus.” You are correct that it was an earlier Hebrew gospel that is mentioned by the earliest of the Patristic fathers. The Greek Septuagint was basically used by those in the Greek-speaking world. None of the parables of Jesus nor did any of the rabbis ever utter in Greek or Aramaic – only Hebrew. Many scholars, of whom I am one, do not believe that Luke was a Greek. Edersheim wrote over a generation ago and much of his material, although good, is dated. Edersheim’s book is one of the most important references on Jesus ever written but it was first written in 1883, well before many archaeological and textual finds that provide insight for us today into the life and times of Jesus. The fact is that we found many Hebrew scrolls in the Dead Sea Scroll findings and, again, you can get a little insight into that subject on our Web site slide show on Qumran. Best wishes, Roy