Very much appreciated, thanks.
The important thing is that the Old Testament Canon included seven books that at the time were not in the Hebrew Canon: Tobias, Judith, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom, First and Second Machabees; some passages from Esther and Daniel were not in the Hebrew Canon either. They were retained by the Christian Canon because they were part of the Septuagint, ...
I admit that I know basically nothing about this part of the history, so thanks for the whole intro. I am confused by the term "Hebrew Canon". Is this what became the modern Torah, or is this something the Judaisers were doing, or was it something else? Since you distinguish it from the Old Testament Canon, I don't know how "Hebrew" and "Canon" fit together.
Let me reiterate, at the time when the Church was formed the "scripture" meant Septuagint. It is therefore logical that Septuagint be the Old Testament part of the deposit of faith left by Christ, despite what later became of the Jewish canon.
So, then concerning the seven books (and anything else), what are the differences between the Septuagint, what is "my" OT (NIV), and "your" OT? Is it right that your OT has the seven books and mine does not, and this was a unilateral decision made by Luther? Are "our" NTs the same?
Thank you also for the links. When I get a chance I will take a look at them. If they answer my questions, please don't feel obligated to "repeat". :)
The Hebrew Canon is, I believe, the Jewish Torah, and it roughly corresponds to the Old Testament canon, with the differences that I outlined: the seven books, some passages, and differences of translation.
The differences between the Protestant Old Testament and the canon defined by Carthage and affirmed by Trent are likewise differences of the seven books, a few passages and translation. I don't think the differences between the Protestant canon and the Hebrew canon are substantial, but I am no expert. Here is one: Isaiah 7:14 is traditionally translated as "behold a virgin shall give bith" but the Hebrew word used only means young woman, "almah". To specifically designate a virgin, the Hebrew author is more likely to use "beulah". But Septuagint has it "parthenos", which is clearly "virgin". So, one translating or teaching from Septuagint, like the early Church did, does not even see a difficulty, and arrives at the accepted Christian meaning. One translating from post-Jamnia, so called Masoretic Hebrew (which would be within the Protestant tradition) would have to extrapolate the Christian meaning if he is to translate it "virgin" at all. And a Jew would have no reason to reach for anything coming out of the Christian tradition and render it "maiden" or "young girl", as the primary meaning of "almah".