by Trisha Bleau Smith
There is much confusion today as to what the Septuagint is, especially in discussions regarding the differences between the Catholic Bible and the Protestant Bible – namely, looking at books such as the Apocryphal readings. This paper is not an in depth discussion on the differences, but rather a brief overview of what the Septuagint is and how it came to be.
Our story begins in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Alexandria was considered a major metropolis for learning in the earlier centuries, boasting one of the most amazing libraries in the known history of the world. It was a major library center and a place of higher education, thus the works there were considered of extreme value and were widely accepted by all. It was in this area that the first reference to the Septuagint was recorded.
The Jewish community that existed in Alexandria from its foundation in 331 by Alexander the Great had adopted the Hellenistic (Hellenistic Era was from 331 BC to 100 AD) language of their area (the Attic Greek that was spoken by the majority) and their own native Palestinian Hebrew was quickly forgotten in the course of a few generations.
Tradition has it that Aristeas commissioned the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in to Greek for the Jews of this time (the 3rd century BC – around 250 BC or so). Aristeas’ letter that is present today is considered pseudopigraphia because it was never proven that Aristeas was a real person – scholars believe it to be written in 100 BC by a Jewish apologist, long after the translation had already been completed. Historical documentation shows that the commission was put forth by Demetrius Phalereus, the official librarian of Alexandria, under the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Greek King of Alexandria (285 BC-246 BC) , as recorded by Aristobulus, a Jew who lived at the commencement of the second century B.C.
Jewish scholars were brought from Palestine to Alexandria for the translating of the Scriptures from Hebrew to Greek. Six translators from each tribe were requested – thus the number 72. It is recorded as being 70 elders who translated the Scriptures, and is often abbreviated as LXX (Roman Numerals for 70). Tradition has it that seventy two men worked for seventy two days then came together to compare their translations finding them to be identical, thus “inspired.”
The original translation of the original Septuagint ONLY included the Pentatuech – not the entire Hebrew Bible or deuterocanonical books. At this time the Pentateuch were the only official Scriptures of the Jewish people – the prophets and the Writings were not yet considered authoritative). Many of the later translations of additional books were redone over the years, some being of higher quality than others (the book of Isaiah is considered to be the worst of those translated).
The term Septuagint comes from the Greek term, and then later the Latin term septuaginta, meaning “of the 70,” named for the tradition telling that 70 Jewish elders came together to form this translation. It has become a generic term for the various Greek versions of the Hebrew Scriptures, with LXX being the original translation of the Pentateuch.
The New Testament quotes were taken from the Septuagint, since that was the widely used and accepted translation of the times. But only a few fragments of the original translations remain – a fragment of Deuteronomy was found and is in the John Rylands University Library in Manchester, England, dating back to the second century BC. Another copy dating from the same time exists in Cairo. And various fragments were found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. (Most of the works found in Qumran in 1947 were written in Hebrew, though a few Greek texts were found amongst the others.)
As the Christian community began to embrace the version the Jewish people began to reject it, seeing that it was being translated time and time again, each time being slightly altered by the interpretation of the various individuals doing the translations (personal interpretation comes in to play in ALL translations as the words to make the meaning come forth in a new language are sought – that is why it is always best to return to the original language to understand fully what is being said) thus losing its validity and authority in their minds. Jewish historians Philo and Josephus chronicle this in their own histories. There are great differences between the Septuagint versions and the original Hebrew texts, thus the Jewish people rejected this version as it continued to evolve translation after translation.
Origen was the first to try to correct the many errors of the various translations. His works, known as the Hexapla, Tetrapla, and Octapla, were various combinations of corrected versions already in existence (including the versions form the early 1st and 2nd centuries by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion).
Regarding the Apocryphal Books
Though the books were in circulation they were not quoted by the apostles or Jesus and were rejected as being authoritative. Just as is the case today these books were greatly valued and held inspirational materials, just as we have books in circulation today that we consider to be excellently written Christian literary works. But despite being inspirational in nature they were rejected as being inspired by God.
Depending upon which translation of the Septuagint you are referring to you may or may not find Apocryphal books. In most cases you will find in that in the Septuagint all books considered Apocryphal were eventually included, excluding 2 Esdras. Yet not all of these books originally included in the Septuagint were later canonized in the Catholic Bible, and all apocryphal books were rejected from Protestant versions and Jewish versions of the Scriptures. As indicated previously, the original translation of the Septuagint included only the first five books – the Pentateuch. After that various other translators worked on different translations, adding to what is generically referred to as the Septuagint, and which WAS quoted and used over the next few centuries by church leaders.
References
Edgar J. Goodspeed, The Story of the Apocrypha, (Chicago: University of Chicago 1939)
Henry Barclay Swete, ed., The Old Testament in Greek (3 vols.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912, 4th ed.).
Patrick W. Skehan, Eugene Ulrich, Judith E. Sanderson, Qumran Cave 4. IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manu- scripts (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, IX; Oxford: University Press, 1992).
Youngblood, Ronald; Bruce, FF; Harrison, RK, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Nelson, 1986, 1995, ISBN: 0840720718
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