The Septuagint is more accurate and closer than the Masoretic text to the originals

Changes were made to the Masoretic text contrary to Con's claims. Clarke's position for there being changes in the Masoretic text is supported by Louis Cappel, a Hebrew scholar in his article "Chappel Louis" written in Encyclopedia Britannica: "As a Hebrew scholar, he concluded that the vowel points and accents were not an original part of Hebrew, but were inserted by the Masorete Jews of Tiberias, not earlier then the 5th Century AD, and that the primitive Hebrew characters are Aramaic and were substituted for the more ancient at the time of the captivity. . . The various readings in the Old Testament Text and the differences between the ancient versions and the Masoretic Text convinced him that the integrity of the Hebrew text as held by Protestants, was untenable. This amounted to an attack upon the verbal inspiration of Scripture. Bitter, however, as was the opposition, it was not long before his results were accepted by scholars." Menahem stated that " that there was indeed a Hebrew text-type on which the Septuagint-translation was based and which differed substantially from the received MT" (1). According to Wikipedia, the Masoretes weren't working with the original Hebrew, but with corrupted texts and points to Bible Archaeology (http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org...). Con is right, the Septuagint isn't always better than the Masoretic text, but in the passages talking about the Messiah, the Septuagint provides the actual rendering of the Hebrew Scriptures. In Con quoting Eugine Ulrich, it won't help his case as we are about to see. According to Hershal Shanks "texts like 4QSama show is that the Septuagintal translations are really quite reliable" (2). We find evidence from the DSS that the Septuagint is reliable. You can compare the three regarding the Messiah: Deut. 32:43 according to the LXX in comparison to DSS 4QDeutq reads: "Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him [4QDeutq has "and bow down to him all you gods," which merges the last two items underlined in the LXX]]; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance,and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people." The MT reads: " Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will make expiation for his land, for his people." Ps. 17:11 LXX reads: "They have now cast me out and compassed me round about: they have set their eyes so as to bow them down to the ground." MT reads: "They have now compassed us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth." LXX Ps. 22:16 reads: "the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet." MT reads: A company of evil-doers have inclosed me; Like a lion are my hands and feet [or, My hands and feet are shriveled - the meaning of the Masoretic Hebrew is uncertain] Is. 65:1 LXX reads: "I became manifest to them that asked not for me" MT reads: "I am inquired of by them that asked not for me" Ps. 40:6 in the LXX says "a body you have prepared for me.." But this isn't found in the MT, being replaced with "You opened my ears.." You can find more when comparing the LXX with the MT here: http://theorthodoxlife.files.wordpress.com... In response to Con's claim that the LXX replaced the Hebrew almah with the Greek word for virgin, scholar Cyrus Gordon says: "The commonly held view that "virgin" is Christian, whereas "young woman" is Jewish is not quite true. The fact is that the Septuagint, which is the Jewish translation made in pre-Christian Alexandria, takes almah to mean "virgin" here. Accordingly, the New Testament follows Jewish interpretation in Isaiah 7:14. Therefore, the New Testament rendering of almah as "virgin" for Isaiah 7:14 rests on the older Jewish interpretation, which in turn is now borne out for precisely this annunciation formula by a text that is not only pre-Isaianic but is pre-Mosaic in the form that we now have it on a clay tablet." (3) The LXX rendering of Almah is consistent as in ancient cultures, a young lady would be living with her parents away from her fiance with a veil over her face, implying that she was a virgin (4). More comparisons between the LXX and MT show significant differences Isa. 6:10 MT "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." LXX "For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." Isa. 11:10 MT "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." LXX "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to rule over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust, and his rest shall be glorious." Ps. 2:1-2 MT "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed," LXX "Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the nations imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together against the Lord, and against his Christ." Ps. 78:2 MT "I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:" LXX "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter dark sayings which have been from the beginning." Num. 16:5 MT "And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him." LXX "Cursed is every man that continues not in all the words of this law to do them; and all the people shall say, So be it." Isa. 42:4 "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law." LXX "He shall shine out, and shall not be discouraged, until he have set judgment on the earth: And in his name shall the Gentiles trust." Clearly, the MT has intentionally altered the Hebrew Scriptures to remove any clear references to Jesus being the Messiah and the son of God. These verses support the authenticity of the Septuagint to the DSS over the MT: Gen. 1:9 LXX "Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one gathering" MT "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place" LXX And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its gatherings, and the dry land appeared. This text isn't found in the MT Gen. 1:14 LXX "let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years" MT " let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years" LXX Gen. 6:20 "of all reptiles creeping upon the earth after their kind" MT "of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind" LXX Gen. 41:16 "And Joseph answered Pharaoh and said, Without God an answer of safety shall not be given to Pharaoh." MT "And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." With all of these in mind, it is clear that the evidence to support the Septuagint is stronger than the Masoretic text being faithful to the original text. Sources: 1. Menachem Cohen, The Idea of the Sanctity of the Biblical Text and the Science of Textual Criticism in HaMikrah V'anachnu, ed. Uriel Simon, HaMachon L'Yahadut U'Machshava Bat-Z'mananu and Dvir, Tel-Aviv, 1979. 2. Hershal Shanks, 4QSama - The Difficult Life of a Dead Sea Scroll, Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol 33 No 3, May/June 2007, pp66-70. 3. Gordon, Cyrus H., Almah in Isaiah 7:14, The Journal of Bible & Religion, Vol. 21(April 1953), p. 106. 4. The Septuagint renders the Hebrew term as he parthenos "the virgin," but the three second-century Greek translations, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, read neanis "young woman, girl." (Note that Isa 7:14 and Gen 24:43 are the only instances where the Septuagint renders the Hebrew term "almah with parthenos [so Vulgatevirgo].) The Isaiah Scroll found at Qumran (1QIsaa), and copied in the 2nd century BC, has the same reading as the Masoretic Text, "lmh. TheTargum of Jonathan on Isaiah reads "wlymt' "young woman, girl," while the Syriac Peshitta, perhaps under the influence of the Septuagint, uses a Hebraism, btwlt', meaning "virgin."