Septuagint
Origins and History
The Septuagint, often abbreviated as LXX, is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts. The term "Septuagint" derives from the Latin word "Septuaginta," which means seventy, referring to the tradition that seventy (or seventy-two) Jewish scholars translated the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) from Hebrew into Greek in the 3rd century BCE.
The translation was purportedly done in Alexandria, Egypt, under the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a Hellenistic king who sought to enrich the famous Library of Alexandria. The Septuagint is the first translation of the Hebrew Bible and was widely used in the Hellenistic period by Greek-speaking Jews and later by early Christians.
Translation Process
The translation process of the Septuagint was a monumental task. The translators were Jewish scholars fluent in both Greek and Hebrew. They aimed to make the Hebrew scriptures understandable to the growing Greek-speaking Jewish diaspora. The translation process was not uniform, and the quality and style of Greek varies between books, suggesting that multiple translators worked on the project, each with their own translation styles and levels of Greek proficiency.
Contents
The Septuagint contains the standard 39 books of the Old Testament, along with certain apocryphal and deuterocanonical books, which are not found in the Hebrew Bible. These additional books include Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, and additions to the Book of Esther and the Book of Daniel.
Significance
The Septuagint holds significant historical, religious, and linguistic importance. It provides valuable insights into the Hellenistic period and the history of the biblical text. It was the Bible of Hellenistic Jews and early Christians, including many New Testament authors. The Septuagint is often quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles. It also influenced other Bible translations, including the Old Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Old Armenian, and Coptic versions.
Textual Features
The Septuagint presents several textual features and differences from the Masoretic Text, the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism. These differences include variations in the naming of certain books and the order of the books. The Septuagint also contains several passages and verses not found in the Masoretic Text.
Modern Scholarship and Editions
Modern scholarship on the Septuagint is a vibrant field, with scholars seeking to understand its history, translation techniques, and its relationship to the Hebrew Bible. Several critical editions of the Septuagint have been published, including the Cambridge Septuagint, the Göttingen Septuagint, and the recently completed New English Translation of the Septuagint.