The Septuagint

The earliest version of the Old Testament Scriptures of which is possessed any certain knowledge is the translation executed at Alexandria in the third century B.C.E. It has been habitually known by the name of SEPTUAGINT. If knowledge of the origin of the Septuagint be meagre, it is at least more extensive than that possessed of other [ancient] translations.

The Alexandrian dialect of the Greek brought during Macedonian rule after the conquest of Alexander is the idiom in which the Septuagint Version was made. Because of the number of Jewish inhabitants in Alexandria, the existence of the sacred books of the Jews would easily become known to the Greek population.

Aristobulus, a Jew living at the beginning of the second century B.C. says that the version of the Law into Greek was completed under the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that Demetrius Phalereus had been employed about it. It appears that Aristobulus was probably a witness that the work of translation had begun under Ptolemy Soter.

A writer named Aristeas says that Ptolemy Philadelphus sent a deputation to Eleazar the high priest to request a copy of the Jewish Law and seventy-two interpreters, six out of each tribe. These men were conducted by Demetrius to an island where the work is stated to have been completed in seventy-two days. They were Jews of Egypt, not of Palestine.

At Alexandria, the Hellenistic Jews used this version. From there it spread among the Jews of the dispersion until it was the common form in which the Old Testament Scriptures had become diffused. In many passages, the Septuagint agrees with Samaritan copies where they differ from the Hebrew. This version was used by the Apostles when they quoted the Old Testament. After the dispersion of Christianity, this translation was used in the new Christian communities. Noting the differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew text, Origen set out to correct the former. The result was his great works, the Hexapla and the Tetrapla. After the fourth century, there is no known definite attempt to revise the Septuagint.

On each page of this copy one column is in Greek and one, in English.

Genesis 1: 1, 2
In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.

Wisdom 1: 1
LOVE righteousness, ye that be judges of the eart: think of the Lord with a good (heart), and in simplicity of heart seek him.

The following comparative studies include this version:

1. Burden and Yoke to Be Removed
2. From Eternity or From Ancient Times?
3. Falsifying Scribes
4. Fringe on the Borders of a Garment
5. Gods, God, or Judges
6. Horses from Egypt and Kue
7. Interpretation of Malachi 3: 7-12
8. Israelites and Baal-Peor
9. Lord Is My Shepherd: An Anthology
10. Minor Prophets
11. Name of Our Heavenly Father
12. Offering Sacrifices to the He-Goat
13. Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9
14. Sides of the Court of the Tabernacle
15. Speech Problem of Moses
16. That Which Will Happen Before the End
17. Time of Peleg
18. Tragedy at Beth-Shemesh
19. Words with Heathen Origins in the Scriptures