Septuagint

Authorship, Date, and Context

The Septuagint (conventionally abbreviated as LXX) is the earliest and most monumental Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, rendered in Alexandrian Koine Greek beginning in the third century BCE. Jewish-Hellenistic literary tradition, preserved in the Letter of Pseudo-Aristeas, claims that King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt (285-247 BCE), persuaded by royal librarian Demetrius of Phalerum to enrich the Library of Alexandria, requested seventy-two qualified Jewish translators from High Priest Eleazar in Jerusalem to translate the sacred Law in seventy-two days on the island of Pharos.

Modern biblical scholarship and patristic history confirm that while Aristeas's courtly embellishments are legendary, the historical reality is well established: the Pentateuch (comprising the opening chapters of Genesis) was translated into Greek at Alexandria around 250 BCE to serve the thriving Greek-speaking Jewish community that had lost fluency in Hebrew. The remaining historical, poetic, and prophetic books were subsequently rendered into Greek by various hands prior to 130 BCE.

Structure

This biblical block encompasses the first five chapters of Genesis as preserved in the Alexandrian Greek Septuagint, following the canonical sequence of primeval origins.

Chapter 1 records the creation of the cosmos in six successive days through the divine word, culminating in the creation of humanity in the image of God. Chapter 2 recounts the hallowing of the seventh-day Sabbath, the formation of Adam from dust infused with the breath of life, the geography of the Garden of Eden with its sacred trees and rivers, the naming of living creatures, and the fashioning of woman from Adam's rib to establish primal marriage. Chapter 3 unfolds the temptation of the woman by the serpent, the eating of the forbidden fruit, the discovery of nakedness, the divine interrogation, the protoevangelium predicting enmity between the serpent and the woman's seed, and the expulsion from Eden guarded by cherubim. Chapter 4 narrates the birth of Cain and Abel, the rejected offering, the first murder, Cain's exile bearing the protective divine mark, the technological culture of Lamech's descendants, and the birth of Seth. Chapter 5 provides the genealogy of Adam through ten antediluvian generations to Noah, recording long lifespans, Enoch's translation without experiencing death, and the birth of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Themes and Key Passages

Core theological themes encompass creation by divine fiat out of formless void, the intrinsic goodness of the created order, the unique dignity of humanity bearing the divine image, the devastating moral and cosmic consequences of sin, and the preservation of a righteous covenantal line amidst human mortality.

In the solemn opening verse inaugurating the biblical narrative of creation, the Septuagint version declares: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth."

Summary by Parts

The Hexaemeron of Divine Creation (chapter 1): God calls light into being, partitions the waters via the firmament, gathers seas to expose dry earth, generates botanical life, ordains the sun and moon to govern day and night, commands animal life to multiply, and creates mankind as male and female with stewardship over the earth.

The Garden of Eden and the Primal Couple (chapter 2): God sanctifies the seventh day as holy rest; He fashions man from earthen soil and places him in Eden with the command regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; observing man's solitude, God fashions woman from Adam's side, uniting them as one flesh.

The Fall of Humanity and Fratricide (chapters 3-4): Seduced by the subtle serpent, the couple transgresses the divine boundary; God pronounces judgment upon the serpent, hardship upon woman and soil, promises ultimate victory through the woman's seed, and clothes them in garments of skin; outside Eden, Cain kills Abel, suffers banishment as a wanderer, while worship of God is restored through Seth and Enos.

The Antediluvian Patriarchal Lineage (chapter 5): The book of generations registers the lifespans of the patriarchs from Adam through Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared; it highlights Enoch's righteous walk and miraculous translation by God, terminating with Lamech, Methuselah, and Noah on the threshold of the deluge.

Reception

The Septuagint became the foundational Old Testament Scripture of early Christianity: the vast majority of Old Testament citations in the New Testament (including the Gospels, Paul's epistles, and Hebrews) are quoted directly from the LXX. Early Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Augustine defended the divine inspiration of the translation, while Origen studied its variants in the Hexapla.

The LXX remains the authoritative biblical text of the Greek Orthodox Church and served as the direct archetype for ancient daughter versions, notably the Vetus Latina, the Coptic, Ethiopic, and Old Church Slavonic Bibles. Its text is preserved in major fourth- and fifth-century uncial codices (Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus), and has been published in historic editions including the Complutensian Polyglot (1514), the Aldine Bible (1518), the Sixtine edition (1587), Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton's English translation (1851), and Alfred Rahlfs's critical edition (1935).

Sources

• Achille Vander Heeren, Septuagint Version (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 13) (1912).
• Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament with an English Translation (1851).