“Question & Answer”

Question:
“What section found in the Hebrew Bible is lacking in the Septuagint?
Answer:
The Septuagint is not actually lacking any sections found in the Hebrew Bible, but rather, it includes some additional books not found in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, consists of 24 books. It is divided into three parts: the Torah (“Law”), the Nevi’im (“Prophets”), and the Ketuvim (“Writings”). On the other hand, the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, has 46 books. It is divided into four sections: law, history, poetry, and prophets. The additional books in the Septuagint are part of what is known as the “Deuterocanonical” or “Apocryphal” books. These are accepted in some Christian traditions (such as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions) but are not included in the Jewish canon or most Protestant Bibles. So, it’s not that the Septuagint lacks sections from the Hebrew Bible, but rather it includes additional ones. It reads in Jeremiah 33:14-26 Easy-to-Read Version This message is from the Lord: “I made a special promise to the people of Israel and Judah. The time is coming when I will do what I promised. At that time, I will make a good ‘branch’ grow from David’s family. That branch will do what is good and right for the country. When he rules, Judah will be saved. The people of Jerusalem will live in safety. This will be his name: ‘The Lord Makes Things Right for Us.’” The Lord says, “Someone from David’s family will always sit on the throne and rule the family of Israel. And there will always be priests from the family of Levi. They will always stand before me and offer burnt offerings and sacrifice grain offerings and give sacrifices to me.” This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Lord says, “I have an agreement with day and night. I agreed that they would continue forever. You cannot change that agreement. Day and night will always come at the right time. If you could change that agreement, then you could change my agreement with David and Levi. Then descendants from David would not be the kings, and the family of Levi would not be priests. But I will give many descendants to my servant David and to the tribe of Levi. They will be as many as the stars in the sky—no one can count all the stars. And they will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore—no one can count the grains of sand.” Jeremiah received this message from the Lord: “Jeremiah, have you heard what the people are saying? They are saying, ‘The Lord turned away from the two families of Israel and Judah. He chose those people, but now he does not even accept them as a nation.’” The Lord says, “If my agreement with day and night does not continue, and if I had not made the laws for the sky and earth, maybe I would leave those people. Then maybe I would turn away from Jacob’s descendants. And then maybe I would not let David’s descendants’ rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But David is my servant, and I will be kind to those people. I will again cause good things to happen to them.”