Review of Stanley E. Porter says, in ‘Paul and His Bible

Stanley E. Porter argues in his specialised essays and book chapters on the subject (such as "Paul's Bible, His Education and His Access to the Scriptures of Israel") that Paul’s primary Bible was the Septuagint (LXX), and interpreters should default to assuming he relied upon it. 

Key Insights on Paul and His Bible

• The Septuagint Baseline: Porter contends that Paul's thought and scriptural quotations are most accurately read against the Greek Septuagint tradition rather than dynamically shifting back and forth to the Hebrew Masoretic Text without clear textual indicators.

• Education and Access: Co-authored work by Porter and Andrew Pitts explores how Paul's Hellenistic and Jewish background shaped his access to texts, balancing traditional Jewish training with Greco-Roman rhetorical and grammatical milieu. 

• Consistency in Citations: Porter advocates for rigorous, methodical consistency when identifying and cataloguing how New Testament writers quote or echo antecedent scripture. 

What does this mean? 

Septuagint tradition rather than dynamically shifting back and forth to the Hebrew Masoretic Text without clear textual indicators.

This phrase means that when the Apostle Paul quoted the Old Testament, he was likely reading and quoting directly from a Greek translation, rather than translating the Hebrew scriptures into Greek on the spot.
Here is a breakdown of what this means in simple terms:

The Two Different "Bibles"

To understand Stanley Porter's point, you have to look at the two versions of the Old Testament available at the time:

• The Septuagint (LXX): This was the Old Testament translated into Greek. Because Greek was the common language of the Mediterranean world at the time, this was the version used by most Jews living outside of Israel, as well as the early Christian church.

• The Hebrew Text (Masoretic Text): This was the scripture written in its original Hebrew language.

Breaking Down the Phrase

• "Septuagint tradition...": Porter is saying that Paul's primary, everyday Bible was the Greek version. When Paul thought about scripture, wrote letters, or argued a point, he used the vocabulary and phrasing found in the Greek Septuagint.

• "...rather than dynamically shifting back and forth...": Some scholars believe Paul was constantly switching between the two. They argue that Paul would look at a Hebrew scroll, translate it into Greek in his head, and then write it down, or that he would switch versions depending on who he was talking to. Porter disagrees with this.

• "...without clear textual indicators": Porter argues that we shouldn't assume Paul was doing this mental gymnastics unless there is obvious, undeniable proof in the text. Unless a quote looks radically different, we should just assume Paul was quoting his standard Greek Bible.

An Everyday Analogy

Imagine a modern bilingual speaker who grew up in Australia but speaks fluent Spanish. When they quote a famous book, do they read the Spanish version and translate it into English in their head while writing an email? Or do they just open the widely available English translation and quote it directly?

Porter is arguing that Paul did the latter. He used the widely available Greek translation (the Septuagint) as his baseline, rather than constantly translating from the Hebrew.

A clear example of a textual difference appears in Deuteronomy 32:43, which Paul quotes in Romans 15:10.

The Comparison

• The Hebrew Text (Masoretic): Reads simply, "Praise, O nations, his people," or focuses on God avenging the blood of his servants. It does not explicitly mention the nations rejoicing alongside God's people in the exact phrasing. 

• The Greek Septuagint (LXX): Expands and translates the line dynamically as, "Rejoice, O nations, with his people" (or "let all the angels of God worship him" in other parallel expansions). 

• Paul’s Quote in Romans 15:10: Paul directly writes, "Rejoice, O Gentiles [nations], with his people," matching the Greek Septuagint verbatim.

Why It Matters for Paul

Paul uses this specific Greek phrasing from the Septuagint to prove that God always planned to include non-Jews (Gentiles) in His salvation story. Because his everyday Greek Bible already translated the verse this way, his entire theological argument about welcoming Gentiles flows naturally from the text he and his readers held in their hands.