The earliest version of the Old Testament Scriptures ofwhich is possessed any certain knowledge is the translation executed atAlexandria in the third century B.C.E. It has been habitually known bythe name of SEPTUAGINT. If knowledge of the origin of the Septuagint bemeagre, it is at least more extensive than that possessed of other [ancient]translations.

The Alexandrian dialect of the Greek brought during Macedonianrule after the conquest of Alexander is the idiom in which the SeptuagintVersion was made. Because of the number of Jewish inhabitants in Alexandria,the existence of the sacred books of the Jews would easily become knownto the Greek population.

Aristobulus, a Jew living at the beginning of the secondcentury B.C. says that the version of the Law into Greek was completedunder the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that Demetrius Phalereus hadbeen employed about it. It appears that Aristobulus was probably a witnessthat the work of translation had begun under Ptolemy Soter.

A writer named Aristeas says that Ptolemy Philadelphussent a deputation to Eleazar the high priest to request a copy of the JewishLaw and seventy-two interpreters, six out of each tribe. These men wereconducted by Demetrius to an island where the work is stated to have beencompleted in seventy-two days. They were Jews of Egypt, not of Palestine.

At Alexandria, the Hellenistic Jews used this version.From there it spread among the Jews of the dispersion until it was thecommon form in which the Old Testament Scriptures had become diffused.In many passages, the Septuagint agrees with Samaritan copies where theydiffer from the Hebrew. This version was used by the Apostles when theyquoted the Old Testament. After the dispersion of Christianity, this translationwas used in the new Christian communities.

Noting the differences between the Septuagint and theHebrew text, Origen set out to correct the former. The result was his greatworks, the Hexapla and the Tetrapla. After the fourth century,there is no known definite attempt to revise the Septuagint.

On each page of this copy one column is in Greek and one,in English.

Zondervan (1969)

[Tyndale House, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom]

Comparisons which include this version:

The Burden and the Yoke to Be Removed
From Eternity or From Ancient Times?
The Falsifying Scribes
The Fringe on the Borders of a Garment
Gods, God, or Judges
Horses from Egypt and Kue
An Interpretation of Malachi 3: 7-12
The Israelites and Baal-Peor
The Lord Is My Shepherd: An Anthology
The Minor Prophets
The Name of Our Heavenly Father
Offering Sacrifices to the He-Goat
The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9
The Sides of the Court of the Tabernacle
The Speech Problem of Moses
That Which Will Happen Before the End
The Time of Peleg
The Tragedy at Beth-Shemesh
Words with Heathen Origins in the Scriptures