The Septuagint and the Masoretic Text in the Orthodox Church(es)

Abstract

In this article, I intend to survey the reception of versions of the Old Testament in the Orthodox churches, focusing on the Greek, Russian and Romanian Church, respectively. While Western biblical scholars gave precedence to the Hebrew text over the Septuagint, in the Orthodox world one can see a tension in the relationship between the two textual witnesses and sometimes, even recently, there are voices which tend to give the Septuagint total authority in the Church. Orthodox scholars in the field of Old Testament studies usually resort to the Hebrew text, but especially scholars from outside this field tend to promote the Septuagint as the Old Testament of the Orthodox Church. I shall use the argument of authority, which is improper for scientific argumentation, but it suits my research, as I try to understand the confessional positions held within Eastern Orthodoxy. Consequently, if a certain saint, acknowledged as such by a national Orthodox Church or by the entire Eastern Orthodox communion, embraces a particular view on this subject, this bears significantly on the issue.