St. Justin Martyr in his DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO, A JEW, written around 100 AD, says that already the Rabbis were doctoring the text of the OT to get rid of Messianic references (which are clearer in the LXX).
The time of its composition corresponds with the Rabbinical Synod of Jamnia.
I read Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho years ago. I just re-read the pertinent parts. I was not impressed then. I am not impressed now.
In the dialogue, when Trypho asks Justin Martyr for examples, Justin Martyr gives the following…
Justin Martyr says that these words, which he says are from the LXX, were eliminated in the Masoretic text of Ezra (Esdras): “
'And Esdras said to the people, This passover is our Saviour and our refuge. And if you have understood, and your heart has taken it in, that we shall humble Him on a standard, and thereafter hope in Him, then this place shall not be forsaken for ever, says the God of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, and will not listen to His declaration, you shall be a laughing-stock to the nations.’” The LXX had both a Book of Ezra, and a different book 1 Esdras. I concordized both versions, and despite Justin Martyr’s accusation the verse which he says was eliminated by Jews does not seem to have ever been in the LXX. Justin Martyr may have been referring to an apocryphal version of Ezra/Esdras which the Magisterium also threw out!
JM says that these words, which he says are from the LXX, were eliminated in the Masoretic text of Jeremiah: "‘I**[was] like a lamb that is brought to the slaughter: they devised a device against me, saying, Come, let us lay on wood on His bread, and let us blot Him out from the land of the living; and His name shall no more be remembered**.’ " I checked the oldest known complete Masoretic text, and they are still there. They’re translated slightly differently, but our English translation of Jerome’s Vulgate translation of the Greek LXX is a little bit different, too. What, if anything, is being mistranslated. Is the LXX Greek translation of Baruch’s rendition of Jeremiah’s Hebrew at fault? I JM’s memory wrong. Is our translation of JM’s Greek wrong? JM doesn’t even talk about mistranslation. He says that the words were eliminated.
JM says that these words, which he says are from the LXX, were eliminated in the Masoretic text of Jeremiah: “
‘The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.’”
Interestingly, Irenaeus attributes the exact same words to Jeremiah, to Isaiah, and to “others” in “Against Heresy.”
But the words don’t appear to be in Jerome’s Vulgate rendition of the Greek LXX.
Once again, JM is mysteriously unverifiable. Question: Is JM possibly talking about a separate apocryphal work, now lost, called, “The sayings of Jeremiah,” which might have been in an Appendix of the LXX?
JM says that this change was made in Psalm 96: “
‘Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned from the wood,’ they have left, 'Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned.’” Well, JM is wrong, here. The reference to “wood,” meaning “the forest” or “the trees,” was retained, but moved to a different part of the sentence.
Here’s the kicker: Jerome’s Latin Vulgate rendition of the Greek LXX agrees with the writers of the Masoretic text, and not JM.
On the subject of translation, I vote for Jerome.
So, every example cited by JM somehow fails.
In light of the scandal which tampering with God’s Holy Word would have caused among Jews during the revival after Titus, I side with the Jews, and against Justin Martyr, on the issues raised by him.
No “Synod of Jamnia” ever occurred, as far as anyone knows.
