Septuagint

Name and scope. Septuagint, abbreviated LXX, refers to the ancient Greek translation of Jewish Scripture and, more broadly, to books transmitted with it. The name evokes seventy translators, although the Letter of Aristeas describes seventy-two elders. That variation already shows that the familiar title belongs to a story of origins, not to a modern publisher's catalogue. “Septuagint” can mean the translation of the Law in a narrow sense or a wider Greek collection that grew to contain other books. When comparing readings, the relevant book, manuscript, and edition should be specified. Otherwise a statement about one translation may silently be applied to a different composition or a much later copy. [Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”; “Letter of Aristeas”]

Aristeas' account. The Letter of Aristeas sets the translation of the Law in Alexandria under Ptolemy II and tells of scholars requested from Jerusalem. In the story, six men from each of twelve tribes make seventy-two. The letter presents the work as receiving royal support and religious authorization. Historians use it as evidence for how the Greek version was legitimized; its narrative details are not independently verified minutes of a translation committee. The Jewish Encyclopedia stresses that this account initially concerns the Pentateuch. The translations of other books have longer and more varied histories. Distinguishing what the letter says from what can be established about every biblical book preserves its value as an ancient witness. [Jewish Encyclopedia, “Letter of Aristeas”; “Septuagint”]

Language and community. Jews in Alexandria and other diaspora communities could read and speak Greek. Translating the Law made a Hebrew text accessible to readers whose public life used another language. This version was more than a library ornament: it became a medium for reading, teaching, and debating Scripture. Septuagint Greek reflects its period and several habits of translation; it is not a mechanical substitution of one Greek word for each Hebrew word. A choice may make an ancient image easier to grasp, while another preserves a difficult construction. Anyone comparing two versions needs to begin with the work of translation itself before treating every difference as evidence of carelessness or a deliberate change of doctrine. [Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”; “Letter of Aristeas”]

A collection built over time. The tradition of seventy-two interpreters focuses on the Law of Moses. Prophets and other writings were translated in different periods and circumstances; some works preserved in Greek biblical collections were composed in Greek in the first place. Thus “the whole Bible was translated on one date” is too simple. Nor should every Greek sentence be attributed to the same team. The Jewish Encyclopedia distinguishes the Pentateuch translation from the subsequent history of other books. The contents of major Christian codices do not match one timeless, universal list of works either. LXX names a broad textual tradition, and a particular codex gives evidence about one stage of its transmission. [Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”; Codex Sinaiticus Project, “Content”]

A visible difference. Psalm 40:6 in the site's English text says “mine ears hast thou opened”; Hebrews 10:5 quotes the line as “a body hast thou prepared me.” The difference shows that Hebrews uses a Greek scriptural form that does not literally match the psalm translation based on Hebrew. Hebrews' surrounding argument concerns sacrifice and obedience. Readers should compare both passages as wholes rather than make one line a rule governing all New Testament quotations. A divergence may reflect Greek translation, manuscript transmission, or a way of citing; an individual case calls for its own examination. The example is valuable because the words can be checked directly in both passages available here. [Psalm 40:6; Hebrews 10:5; Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”]

Isaiah and Matthew. Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 both mention the child Emmanuel in the site's English translations. Textual discussion concerns the Hebrew term in Isaiah, the Greek word chosen by translators, and the use Matthew makes of the citation. Merely seeing “virgin” in two modern renderings does not reconstruct every stage of the ancient evidence. Matthew applies the line to his narrative, whereas Isaiah first addresses people in a scene of his own time. Holding both settings in view helps explain why the Septuagint matters to New Testament interpretation without assuming that a Christian quotation cancels every feature of its earlier source. The quotation has a history as well as a new context. [Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”]

Books preserved in Greek. Wisdom 7:22 displays the religious and philosophical language of a Jewish work transmitted in Greek. A Greek biblical collection could contain works that did not later occupy the same place in every canon. The question which books are included differs from the question which words a translation uses. A codex can inform both inquiries, but cannot settle them with a single ideal list. The Codex Sinaiticus Project documents the contents of a major early Christian manuscript and the material reality of transmission. Describing Wisdom as part of a Greek biblical collection does not mean that Aristeas' seventy-two elders translated it. Their story and the later collection belong to different layers of history. [Wisdom 7:22; Codex Sinaiticus Project, “Content”]

Christian reception. New Testament authors wrote in Greek and frequently drew on Greek forms of Scripture. The ancient church continued to read such forms; its manuscripts preserved translations alongside books transmitted in Greek. The Jewish Encyclopedia also describes changes in some Jewish responses to the version as Christians employed it in disputes. This history does not require imagining one fixed text on each side. There were copies, revisions, and local choices about reading. Interpreting a particular quotation requires asking which words it uses, which earlier passage it recalls, and what argument its new author builds. Describing those choices is more informative than saying simply that every author quoted “the Septuagint” in exactly the same way. [Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”; Codex Sinaiticus Project, “Content”]

Hebrew and Greek evidence. The Masoretic Text is a Hebrew witness transmitted and pointed through a later history; the Septuagint is a family of ancient Greek witnesses. A difference between them does not automatically prove that one invented a verse or that the other always preserves the original. Sometimes a translator interpreted a similar Hebrew text; in other cases a different Hebrew form may underlie the Greek. Manuscripts, grammar, and context must be compared, not just two modern renderings. The site's Bible can reveal differences between a psalm and an apostolic citation, but it cannot replace a critical edition of all witnesses. That limit belongs to responsible comparison rather than diminishing the value of either text. [Jewish Encyclopedia, “Septuagint”; Psalm 40:6; Hebrews 10:5]