OLD TESTAMENT FOUNDATION TEXTS: MASORETIC TEXT AND SEPTUAGINT

Photo: Thomas Johnston / Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3132307806983099&set=gm.4275767949192508&idorvanity=224415954327748

Introduction

The Masoretic Text (MT) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. It serves as the primary base for most modern Jewish and Christian translations of the Old Testament. 

The Septuagint (abbreviated as LXX) is the oldest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). The name comes from the Latin word for "seventy," referring to the tradition that 70 or 72 Jewish scholars translated the first five books of the Bible (the Torah or Pentateuch) into Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, during the 3rd century BCE. 

Containment

In MT, the original base consisting only of consonants, which was preserved with extreme care. A system of dots and dashes added between the 7th and 10th centuries to ensure correct pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew. Marginal notes (Masora parva and Masora magna) and final notes (Masora finalis) that record word frequencies, unusual spellings, and textual variants to safeguard against copying errors. 

These scribes and scholars, primarily active in Tiberias and Jerusalem between the 7th and 10th centuries CE, were responsible for standardizing the text. The tradition split into two main families, the Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali. The Ben Asher tradition, specifically through the work of Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, eventually became the standard.

The Septuagint contains all the books of the Hebrew canon, but it also includes additional texts, known to Protestants and Jews as the Apocrypha and to Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians as deuterocanonical books (e.g., Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, and additions to Daniel and Esther).

While Jewish communities eventually abandoned the Septuagint due to its adoption by Christians and some textual differences from the established Hebrew texts (the Masoretic Text), it remains the official Old Testament version for the Greek Orthodox Church. Modern biblical scholars use it to help understand the history of the biblical text and to aid in contemporary translations. 

Manuscripts

Aleppo Codex (c. 930 CE), long considered the most authoritative version and Leningrad Codex (1008/1009 CE), the oldest complete surviving copy of the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretic Text is the primary source for most Protestant Old Testaments (e.g., KJV, ESV, NIV) and modern Catholic Bibles.

Modern scholars use "critical editions" that compare multiple manuscripts to reconstruct the most accurate Greek text, such as: Rahlfs-Hanhart: A widely used pocket edition (first published in 1935, revised in 2006) based primarily on the three major codices, and Göttingen Septuagint: The most comprehensive scholarly critical edition, featuring a complex apparatus of variant readings from hundreds of sources. 

Reference

Masoretic Text - The Society for Old Testament Study. (n.d.). Www.sots.ac.uk. https://www.sots.ac.uk/wiki/masoretic-text/

Septuagint Definition, History & Uses | Study.com. (2026). Study.com. https://study.com/academy/lesson/septuagint-overview-history-facts.html

What is the Masoretic Text? (2026). Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/q/what_is_the_masoretic_text.htm

Following the Footnotes: The Masoretic Text – Tyndale House. (2023). Tyndalehouse.com. https://tyndalehouse.com/2023/04/11/the-masoretic-text/

The. (2017). The Bible and the Masoretic Text - The (Proto-)Masoretic Text: Part 1 - TheTorah.com. Thetorah.com. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-bible-and-the-masoretic-text

‌The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2017). Septuagint | biblical literature. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint

Edson, J., & Edson, J. (2024, October 14). What Is the Septuagint? Discover the World’s First Bible Translation | Bible Gateway News & Knowledge. Bible Gateway News & Knowledge. https://www.biblegateway.com/learn/bible-101/about-the-bible/septuagint/

GotQuestions.org. (2004, August 2). What is the Septuagint? | GotQuestions.org. GotQuestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/septuagint.html

The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls. (2017, January 20). Biblical Archaeology Society. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/dead-sea-scrolls/the-masoretic-text-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/

https://brill.com/display/book/9789004406056/BP000022.xml