Afterlife 14: Jeremiah and the Two Traditions

History in the Bible

Garry Stevens

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.4 • 711 Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There are two distinct literary traditions behind the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). Most important is the Masoretic Hebrew tradition. The other tradition is the Greek bible, known as the Septuagint.
While the two traditions are in broad agreement, sometimes they diverge quite significantly. One of those places is in the book of Jeremiah. In this episode, Gil and I explore these differences.

Transcript

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0:00.0	G'day. I'm Gary Stevens.
0:08.5	Welcome to the afterlife of the History in the Bible podcast.
0:16.7	Afterlife episode 14, Jeremiah and the two traditions.
0:24.1	G'day, guys. I'm back with Gil Cadrone, of a podcast of Biblical Proportions.
0:31.5	There are two distinct literary traditions behind the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh.
0:40.3	Most important is the Masoretic Hebrew tradition.
0:48.3	The oldest complete Hebrew Bibles date only from the beginning of the High Middle Ages.
0:55.6	The other tradition is the Greek Bible, known as the Septuagint. The oldest complete versions of this come from late Roman antiquity.
1:01.5	There are many differences between the two traditions.
1:05.6	The Masoretic text has always been the only one used by Jews.
1:10.5	The Septuagint was used by the Christians of the Roman Empire.
1:13.6	It is still the text used by Orthodox Christians. It was the basis of the King James Bible.
1:22.6	Nowadays, Catholics and Protestants use the Masoretic tradition, but informed by the Septuagian.
1:31.3	While the two traditions are in a broad agreement, sometimes they diverge quite significantly.
1:38.3	One of those places is in the Book of Jeremiah.
1:42.3	In this episode, Gill and I explore these differences.
1:47.7	I hope you enjoy the show.
1:51.4	Gidey Gil, how are you?
1:53.6	Hi, Gary. So good to see you again.
1:56.5	Good to see you too.
1:58.3	What a pity our listeners cannot see us in all our glory.
2:02.0	Especially you, like people don't know that, but right now you have the great Australian
	...

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