Septuagint
The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Tanakh (Old Testament) undertaken by 72 Jewish scholars (6 scribes from each of the 12 tribes) in the 4th century B.C./B.C.E. in Alexandria. The word septuaginta is Latin for 70. According to a Jewish legend, seventy scholars were asked to translate the Bible so that it could be included in the Library of Alexandria. The story continues that although they were kept in separate chambers, they all produced identical versions of the text, including emendations for a Greek-speaking audience. This story appears in Book XII of Josephus's historical work Antiquities. Although this is widely thought to be a fable, it hints to the authoritative status that the translation had among Jews; a Talmudic injunction, long since abandoned, said that one may read the Bible in either the original Hebrew or the Greek translation only.
Textual criticism based on comparisons of existing copies of the Septuagint, Masoretic Text, the Samaritan text, and the Dead Sea Scrolls suggest that the Septuagint was not translated directly from what is today the Masoretic Text, but rather from an earlier Hebrew text no longer available to scholars.
Nevertheless, over time, the text was subject to numerous changes, which can be attributed to several causes, including scribal errors, efforts at exegesis, and attempts to support theological positions. Several factors led the Jews to eventually abandon the Septuagint, including: the fact that Greek scribes were not subject to the same rigid rules imposed on Hebrew scribes; that Christians favoured the Septuagint; the gradual decline of the Greek language among Jews. Three other Greek translations were made in the second and third centuries. Otherwise the Jews used Hebrew/Aramic manuscripts compiled by the Masoretes, or authorative Aramaic translations such as that of Onkelos, of Rabbi Yonasan ben Uziel, and Targum Yerushalmi.
The Early Church did, however, continue to use the Septuagint, since most members of the early Church fathers were unable to read Hebrew, and because the messianic passages most clearly pointed to Jesus as the Christ (Messiah in Hebrew) in the Septuagint translation. While the Septuagint served Jerome as a primary text in his preparation of the Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin, he apparently checked it against the Hebrew Masoretic Text for accuracy and actually chose to retranslate the Book of Psalms.
This edition is sometimes referred to by the abbreviation LXX, because the roman numeral LXX is the number 70. This usage is usually familiar to scholars and serious readers in the context of scriptural texts, but not to a general audience.
The Septuagint translation was used by the Greek-speaking portion of the Christian Church in the first few centuries of the Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church still prefers to use the Septuagint for translating the Old Testament into other languages.
See also Sinaiticus codex
Books of the Septuagint
| ΓΕΝΕΣΙΣ | Genesis |
| ΕΞΟΔΟΣ | Exodus |
| ΛΕΥΙΤΙΚΟΝ | Leviticus |
| ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ | Numbers |
| ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝΟΜΙΟΝ | Deuteronomy |
| ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΝΑΥΗ | Joshua, the son of Nun |
| ΚΡΙΤΑΙ | Judges |
| ΡΟΥΘ | Ruth |
| ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Α | Kings I. (1 Samuel) |
| ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Β | Kings II. (2 Samuel) |
| ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Γ | Kings III. (1 Kings) |
| ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Δ | Kings IV. (2 Kings) |
| ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΠΟΜΕΝΩΝ Α | Chronicles I. |
| ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΠΟΜΕΝΩΝ Β | Chronicles II. |
| ΕΣΔΡΑΣ Α | Esdras I. |
| ΕΣΔΡΑΣ Β | Esdras II. (Ezra) |
| ΝΕΕΜΙΑΣ | Nehemiah |
| ΕΣΘΗΡ | Esther |
| ΙΟΥΔΙΘ | Judith |
| ΤΩΒΙΤ | Tobit |
| ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Α | I. Maccabees |
| ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Β | II. Maccabees |
| ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Γ | III. Maccabees |
| ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Δ | IV. Maccabees |
| ΨΑΛΜΟΙ | Psalms |
| ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ ΜΑΝΑΣΣΗ | Prayer of Manasseh |
| ΠΑΡΟΙΜΙΑΙ | Proverbs |
| ΕΚΚΑΗΣΙΑΣΤΗΣ | Ecclesiastes |
| ΑΣΜΑ | Song of Solomon |
| ΙΩΒ | Job |
| ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΑΛΩΜΩΝ | Wisdom of Solomon |
| ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΕΙΡΑΧ | Wisdom of the Son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) |
| ΩΣΗΕ | Hosea |
| ΙΩΗΛ | Joel |
| ΑΜΩΣ | Amos |
| ΟΒΔΙΟΥ | Obadiah |
| ΙΩΝΑΣ | Jonah |
| ΜΙΧΑΙΑΣ | Micah |
| ΝΑΟΥΜ | Nahum |
| ΑΜΒΑΚΟΥΜ | Habakkuk |
| ΣΟΦΟΝΙΑΣ | Zephaniah |
| ΑΓΓΑΙΟΣ | Haggai |
| ΖΑΧΑΡΙΑΣ | Zechariah |
| ΜΑΛΑΧΙΑΣ | Malachi |
| ΗΣΑΙΑΣ | Isaiah |
| ΙΕΡΕΜΙΑΣ | Jeremiah |
| ΒΑΡΟΥΧ | Baruch |
| ΘΡΗΝΟΙ | Lamentations of Jeremiah |
| ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΙΕΡΕΜΙΟΥ | Epistle of Jeremiah |
| ΙΕΖΕΚΙΗΛ | Ezekiel |
| ΔΑΝΙΗΛ | Daniel |
| ΤΩΝ ΤΡΙΩΝ ΠΑΙΔΩΝ ΑΙΝΕΣΙΣ | Song of the Three Children |
| ΣΩΣΑΝΝΑ | Susanna |
| ΒΗΛ ΚΑΙ ΔΡΑΚΩΝ | Bel and the Dragon |
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