Septuagint, 1
What Is the Septuagint?
The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, along with several additional Jewish writings. Its name comes from the Latin Septuaginta, meaning "seventy," based on the legend that 72 Jewish scholars (rounded to 70) produced it. For centuries, it was the Bible for the vast majority of early Christians, who were Greek speakers. When the Apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament in letters like Romans (e.g., Romans 3:10-18) or when the Gospel writers cite prophecy (e.g., Matthew 1:23 quoting Isaiah 7:14), they are overwhelmingly using the Septuagint's wording. This translation bridged the gap between the Jewish religious world and the Hellenistic culture that dominated the Mediterranean after Alexander the Great.
Origins and the Aristeas Legend
The traditional story of the Septuagint's origin comes from the Letter of Aristeas, written in the 2nd century BC. It claims that the Greek ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BC), wanted a copy of the Jewish Law for his famous library in Alexandria. At the request of his librarian, the High Priest in Jerusalem sent 72 scholars, six from each of the twelve tribes. These scholars, working on the island of Pharos, completed a perfect, harmonious translation of the Torah (the first five books) in 72 days. While this story contains legendary elements—like the scholars working independently yet producing identical translations—it points to a historical core: the Torah was translated into Greek in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC to serve the needs of the large Jewish community there that was losing its fluency in Hebrew.
The Translation and Growth of the Septuagint
The translation project did not happen all at once. The Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy) was translated first, likely in the mid-3rd century BC. Over the next two centuries, the other biblical books were gradually translated by different individuals with varying styles and levels of skill. Books like Isaiah and the Psalms were translated fairly literally, while others, like Job and Proverbs, show a freer approach. Some books, like Jeremiah, are significantly shorter and arranged differently in the Septuagint compared to the Hebrew Bible. The collection also eventually included books originally composed in Greek, like the Wisdom of Solomon, and Greek translations of other Jewish writings (now called the Deuterocanonical books or Apocrypha), such as Judith, Tobit, and 1 & 2 Maccabees.
The Septuagint and the New Testament Church
The Septuagint was the Scripture of the early Church. The New Testament contains approximately 300 direct quotations from the Old Testament; around 90% of them align with the Septuagint's reading rather than the later standardized Hebrew text. Key theological terms in the New Testament were shaped by the Septuagint. For example, the Greek word christos ("anointed one") was the Septuagint's translation of the Hebrew mashiach (Messiah). The term ekklēsia for "church" comes from the Septuagint's word for the "assembly" of Israel. Furthermore, the Septuagint's grouping of the prophetic books influenced how the early Christians read them as testimony about Jesus (Luke 24:44).
Textual Transmission and Later Revisions
As the Septuagint became the Christian Old Testament, Jewish communities began to view it with suspicion. In the 2nd century AD, new, more literal Greek translations were commissioned to replace it for Jewish use. The most famous are those by Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus. The great Christian scholar Origen (c. 184–253 AD) created the Hexapla, a massive six-column work comparing the Hebrew text, a Greek transliteration, and these four Greek versions side-by-side to understand the differences. Later Christian recensions, like those by Lucian of Antioch and Hesychius, sought to standardize the Septuagint text. Our modern critical editions rely on ancient manuscripts like Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus (4th century AD), as well as papyrus fragments, to reconstruct the earliest attainable form of the Greek text.
Lasting Significance and Modern Study
The Septuagint remains crucial for biblical scholarship. It is a primary witness to an ancient form of the Hebrew text that sometimes differs from the Masoretic Text. For example, the Septuagint version of 1 Samuel is notably different. It also provides the textual basis for the Old Testament in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Studying the Septuagint offers a window into how Greek-speaking Jews understood their Scriptures before the time of Christ, illuminating the religious and intellectual world in which Christianity was born. It stands as a monumental achievement in the history of translation and a foundational text for Western religious thought.
Biblical Context
The Septuagint itself is not a book within the biblical narrative but the vessel that carried that narrative into the Greco-Roman world. It contains the full Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh (Law, Prophets, and Writings). Its influence is felt pervasively in the New Testament, as its phraseology and textual readings undergird the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists. For instance, the prophecy cited in Matthew 1:23, "they shall call his name Immanuel," follows the Septuagint of Isaiah 7:14, which uses the Greek parthenos for "virgin," whereas the Hebrew uses a word with a broader meaning. The order of books in the Christian Old Testament (with the prophets at the end) follows the Septuagint's structure rather than the Hebrew arrangement.
Theological Significance
The Septuagint is theologically significant because it represents the first major cross-cultural interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. It shows God's word being actively translated and understood in a new linguistic and cultural context—a process that prefigures the global mission of the Christian church. Its adoption by the early church demonstrates that the gospel was from the beginning translatable, not bound to a single culture or language. The textual variations between the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text remind us that God's revelation was transmitted through human communities and manuscripts, inviting careful study to discern the earliest readings. Its use by New Testament authors gives it a unique authority in understanding how the earliest Christians interpreted the Old Testament as finding its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Historical Background
The Septuagint was born in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great. After his death (323 BC), his general Ptolemy founded a dynasty there. Alexandria had a large Jewish community that became increasingly Greek-speaking. The need for a Greek Torah arose from liturgical and educational needs within this diaspora community. The translation of the rest of the books likely continued until the 1st century BC. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 20th century confirmed that the Hebrew texts used by the Septuagint translators did exist, validating it as a witness to an ancient textual tradition. The Letter of Aristeas, while legendary, is a key extra-biblical source for its origin story, reflecting its perceived importance in the Hellenistic world.