Septuagint | |
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![]() Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of uncial book from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus c. 325–350 AD, the basis of Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and English translation | |
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Date | c. 3rd century BC |
Language(s) | Koine Greek |
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The Septuagint (/ˈsɛptjuədʒɪnt/ SEP-tew-ə-jint),[1] sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (Koinē Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα, romanized: Hē metáphrasis tôn Hebdomḗkonta), and abbreviated as LXX,[2] is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew.[3][4] The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BC) by seventy-two Hebrew translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.[5][6][7]
Biblical scholars agree that the first five books of the Hebrew Bible were translated from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek by Jews living in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, centred on the large community in Alexandria, probably in the early or middle part of the 3rd century BC.[8] The remaining books were presumably translated in the 2nd century BC.[4][9][10] Some targums translating or paraphrasing the Bible into Aramaic were also made during the Second Temple period.[11]
Few people could speak and even fewer could read in the Hebrew language during the Second Temple period; Koine Greek[3][12][13][14] and Aramaic were the lingua francas at that time among the Jewish community. The Septuagint, therefore, satisfied a need in the Jewish community.[8][15]
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