Hebrew Scripture in Patristic Biblical Theory: Canon, Language, Text

Abstract

The status of the Christian Old Testament as originally Hebrew scripture had certain theoretical implications for many early Christians. While they based their exegesis on Greek translations and considered the LXX inspired in its own right, the Fathers did acknowledge the Hebrew origins of their Old Testament and in some ways defined their Bible accordingly. Hebrew scripture exerted its influence on patristic biblical theory especially in regard to issues of the canon, language, and text of the Bible. For many Fathers, only documents thought to be originally composed in Hebrew could be considered canonical, the Hebrew language was considered the primordial language subsequently confined to Israel, and the LXX, as the most faithful translation, corresponded precisely to the Hebrew text.