Septuagint
The
Septuagint (or the "
LXX") is the name commonly given in the West to the ancient,
Koine Greek version of the
Old Testament translated in stages between the
3rd to
1st century BC in
Alexandria. It is the oldest of several ancient translations from the
Hebrew Bible into
Greek. The name means "seventy" and derives from a tradition that seventy-two
Jewish scholars (LXX being the nearest round number) translated the
Pentateuch (or
Torah) from
Hebrew into Greek for one of the
Ptolemaic kings. As the work of translation went on gradually, and new books were added to the collection, the compass of the Greek Bible came to be somewhat indefinite. The Pentateuch always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the
canon; but the prophetic collection changed its aspect by having various hagiographa incorporated into it. Some of the newer works, those called
anagignoskomena in Greek, are not included in the Hebrew canon. Among these Apochrypha are the books of the
Maccabees and the wisdom of
Ben Sira. The LXX versions of some works, like
Daniel and
Esther, are longer than the Hebrew.[
1]. Several of the later books were apparently composed in Greek.
The LXX was held with great respect in ancient times;
Philo and
Josephus ascribed divine inspiration to its authors. It formed the basis of the
Old Latin versions and is still used within
Eastern Orthodoxy. Besides the
Old Latin versions, the LXX is also the basis for
Gothic,
Slavonic,
Peshitta,
Armenian, and
Coptic versions of the Old Testament. Of significance for all Christians and for bible scholars, the LXX is quoted by the
Christian New Testament and by the
Apostolic Fathers. While Jews have not used the LXX in worship or religious study since the
second century CE, recent scholarship has brought renewed interest in it in Judaic Studies. Some of the
Dead Sea scrolls attest to Hebrew texts other than those on which the
Masoretic Text was based; in many cases, these newly found texts accord with the LXX version. The oldest surviving codices of LXX date to the
fourth century CE.
The Septuagint derives its name from
Latin septuaginta interpretum versio, "translation of the seventy interpreters" (hence the abbreviation
LXX). The Latin title refers to a legendary account in the spurious
Letter of Aristeas of how seventy-two Jewish scholars were asked by the Greek King of Egypt
Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 3rd century BC to translate the
Torah for inclusion in the
Library of Alexandria. In a later version of that legend narrated by
Philo of Alexandria, although the translators were kept in separate chambers, they all produced identical versions of the text in seventy-two days. Although this story is widely viewed as implausible today, it underlines the fact that some ancient Jews wished to present the translation as authoritative. A version of this legend is found in the Tractate
Megillah of the
Babylonian Talmud (pages 9a-9b), which identifies fifteen specific unusual translations made by the scholars. Only two of these translations are found in the extant LXX.
Modern scholarship holds that the LXX, beginning with the Torah, was written during the 3rd through 1st centuries BC.
The oldest manuscripts of the LXX include 2nd century BC fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Rahlfs nos. 801, 819, and 957), and 1st century BC fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the Minor Prophets (Rahlfs nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). Relatively complete manuscripts of the LXX include the
Codex Vaticanus and the
Codex Sinaiticus of the
4th century and the
Codex Alexandrinus of the
5th century. These are indeed the oldest surviving nearly-complete manuscripts of the Old Testament in any language; the oldest extant complete Hebrew texts date 700 years later, from around
1000. While there are significant differences between these three codices, scholarly consensus today favors the view that one LXX - that is, the original pre-Christian translations - underly all three.
The sources of the many differences between the Septuagint and the
Masoretic text have long been discussed by scholars. The most widely accepted view today is that the Septuagint provides a reasonably accurate record of an early Semitic textual variant, now lost, that differed from ancestors of the Masoretic text. Ancient scholars, however, did not suspect this. Early Christians - who were largely unfamiliar with Hebrew texts, and were thus only made aware of the differences through the newer Greek versions - tended to dismiss the differences as a product of uninspired translation of the Hebrew in these new versions. Following the
Renaissance, a common opinion among some humansists was that the LXX translators bungled the translation from the Hebrew and that the LXX became more corrupt with time. The discovery of many fragments in the
Dead Sea scrolls that agree with the Septuagint rather than the Masoretic Text proved that many of the variants in Greek were also present in early Semitic manuscripts.
Jewish revisions and recensions of the Greek against the Hebrew are well attested, the most famous of which include those by
Aquila (
ca 128 CE),
Symmachus, and
Theodotion.
The Three, to varying degrees, tend to favor a more literal adherence to the contemporary Hebrew scriptures than apparent in the old Greek; some scholars consider one or more of the Three to be new Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible.
Origen (
ca 235 CE), and other early Church fathers discussed the differences and attempted to preserve the original reading of the Greek. A Christian scholast in
Alexandria, he completed a comprehensive synopsis of each ancient version side-by-side, but his work is now almost completely lost.
These issues notwithstanding, the text of the LXX is in general close to that of the Masoretic. For example, Genesis 4:1-6 is identical in both the LXX and the Masoretic Text. Likewise, Genesis 4:8 to the end of the chapter is the same. There is only one noticeable difference in that chapter, at 4:7, to wit:
| Genesis 4:7, LXX (Brenton) | Genesis 4:7, Masoretic (Artscroll) |
| Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? Be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou shalt rule over him. | Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it. |
This instance illustrates the complexity of assessing differences between the LXX and the Masoretic Text. Despite the striking divergence of meaning here between the two, nearly identical consonantal Hebrew source texts can be reconstructed. The readily apparent semantic differences result from alternative strategies for interpreting the difficult verse and relate to differences in vowelization and punctuation of the consonantal text.
Jewish use
Ancient Jewish attitudes toward translations of their scripture developed with time. By the
3rd century BCE, Jewry was situated primarily within the Hellenistic world. Outside of Judea, many Jews may have needed
synagogue readings or texts for religious study to be interpreted into Greek, producing a need for the LXX. Alexandria held the greatest diaspora Jewish community of the age and was also a great center of Greek letters. Alexandria is thus likely the site of LXX authorship, a notion supported by the legend of Ptolmey and the 72 scholars. The Septuagint enjoyed widespread use in the Hellenistic Jewish diapora and even in Jerusalem, which had become a rather cosmopolitan (and therefore Greek-speaking) town. Both
Philo and
Josephus show a reliance on the Septuagint in their citations of Jewish scripture.
Starting approximately in the
2nd century CE, several factors led most Jews to abandon the LXX. Christians naturally used the LXX since it was the only Greek version available to the earliest Christians; and since Christians, as a group, had rapidly become overwhelming gentile and, therefore, unfamiliar with Hebrew. The association of the LXX with a rival religion may have rendered it suspect in the eyes of the newer generation of Jews and Jewish scholars. Perhaps more importantly, the Greek language - and therefore the Greek bible - declined among Jews after most of them fled from the Greek-speaking eastern
Roman Empire into the Aramaic-speaking
Persian Empire when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. Instead, Jews used Hebrew/Aramaic manuscripts later compiled by the Masoretes; and authoritative Aramaic translations, such as those of
Onkelos and
Rabbi Yonathan ben Uziel.
What was perhaps most significant for the LXX, as distinct from other Greek versions, was that the LXX began to lose Jewish sanction after differences between it and contemporary Hebrew scriptures were discovered. Even Greek-speaking Jews - such as those remaining in Palestine - tended less to the LXX, preferring other Jewish versions in Greek, such as that of
Aquila, which seemed more faithful to the Hebrew.
Christian use
The early Christian Church continued to use the Old Greek texts since Greek was the
lingua franca of the Roman Empire at the time, since Greek was the language of the Church, and since the Church Fathers tended to accept Philo's account of the LXX' miraculous and inspired origin. The Septuagint version of some Prophetic passages, furthermore, seemed to point to Jesus as the Christ, whereas the same passages are more ambiguous or absent in the Hebrew and other Greek versions.
When
Jerome undertook preparation of the
Vulgate version of the Bible (his new Latin translation), he started with the Septuagint, checking it against the Hebrew
Tanakh. He discovered many significant differences. Jerome at last broke with church tradition to translate the
Old Testament not directly from the LXX, but from his study of all available Greek versions and of the Hebrew. In his prologues he defends his choice by stating that, in some verses, the Hebrew text honors
Christ more clearly than the corresponding Greek. The Psalms in Jerome's latest translation differ particularly from the Septuagint, although his
Vulgate Psalms were translated from the
Hexaplar revision of the Septuagint.
The writers of the
New Testament, which was also written in Greek, usually, but not always, chose to quote the Septuagint when referring to the
Old Testament. This is significant since the Hebrew text diverges in some passages which Christians hold to prophesy Christ. The
Eastern Orthodox Church still prefers to use the LXX as the basis for translating the Old Testament into other languages, and the
Greek Orthodox Church (which has no need for translation) continues to use it in its
liturgy even today. Many modern critical translations of the
Old Testament, while using the Masoretic text as their basis, consult the Septuagint as well as other versions in an attempt to reconstruct the meaning of the Hebrew text whenever the latter is unclear, undeniably corrupt, or ambiguous.
Some Aramaic verses among the
Dead Sea Scrolls correspond more closely with the LXX than with the Masoretic text. This suggests that in some verses the LXX may represent an alternative reading to the one incorporated in the Hebrew scriptures from
Jerome's time to the present. However, most of the verses of the
Dead Sea Scrolls correspond more closely with the
Masoretic Text than with the Septuagint where those two diverge
[Editors: Trent C. Butler, Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary].
Of the fuller quotations in the New Testament of the Old, nearly one hundred agree with the modern form of the Septuagint[
2] and six agree with the Masoretic Text.[
3]
Some sections of the Septuagint may show
Semiticisms, or idioms and phrases based on Semitic dialects like
Hebrew and
Aramaic. Other books, such as LXX
Daniel and
Proverbs, show Greek influence more strongly. The book of Daniel that is found in almost all Greek bibles, however, is the not from the LXX, but rather from
Theodotion's translation, which more closely resembles the Masoretic Daniel.
The LXX is also useful for elucidating pre-Masoretic
Hebrew: many proper nouns are spelled out with Greek vowels in the LXX, while contemporary Hebrew texts lacked vowel pointing.
Hoffman, 2004 One must, however, evaluate such evidence with caution since it is unlikely that all ancient Hebrew sounds had precise Greek equivalents.
See also Table of books below.All the books of western
canons of the
Old Testament are found in the Septuagint, although the order does not always coincide with the modern ordering of the books. The order of books in the Septuagint may be indicative of a consensus on the order of books before the
1st century AD.
Some books are differently named. For example the
Books of Samuel and the
Books of Kings are in the LXX one book in four parts called 'ασιλειῶν (Kingdoms); the
Books of Chronicles supplement this book and are called Paraleipomenon (Παραλειπομένων—things left out). The Septuagint organizes the minor prophets as twelve parts of one Book of Twelve.
Some scripture of ancient origin are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These include additions to
Daniel and
Esther. For more information regarding these books, see the articles
Biblical apocrypha,
Biblical canon,
Books of the Bible, and
Deuterocanonical books.
The New Testament makes a number of allusions to and perhaps quotations of the additional books (as Orthodox Christians aver) and are part of surviving codices. The books are
Tobias,
Judith,
Wisdom of Solomon,
Wisdom of Jesus Seirach,
Baruch,
Epistle of Jeremy (sometimes considered part of Baruch), additions to
Daniel (
The Prayer of Azarias, the
Song of the Three Children,
Sosanna and
Bel and the Dragon), additions to
Esther,
1 Maccabees,
2 Maccabees,
3 Maccabees,
4 Maccabees,
1 Esdras,
Odes, including the
Prayer of Manasses, and
Psalm 151. The canonical acceptance of these books varies among different Christian faiths, and there are canonical books not derived from the Septuagint; for a discussion see the article on
Biblical apocrypha.
All the printed editions of the Septuagint are derived from the three recensions mentioned above.
* The editio princeps is the
Complutensian Polyglot. It was from Origen's hexaplar text; printed in 1514-18, it was not published till it appeared in the Polyglot of Cardinal Ximenes in 1520.
* The Aldine edition (begun by
Aldus Manutius) appeared at Venice in 1518. The text is purer than that of the Complutensian edition, and is closer to Codex B. The editor says he collated ancient manuscripts but does not specify them. It has been reprinted several times.
* The most important edition is the Roman or Sixtine, which reproduces the "Codex Vaticanus" almost exclusively. It was published under the direction of Cardinal Caraffa, with the help of various savants, in 1586, by the authority of Sixtus V, to assist the revisers who were preparing the Latin Vulgate edition ordered by the Council of Trent. It has become the textus receptus of the Greek Old Testament and has had many new editions, such as that of Holmes and Pearsons (Oxford, 1798-1827), the seven editions of Tischendorf, which appeared at Leipzig between 1850 and 1887, the last two, published after the death of the author and revised by Nestle, the four editions of Swete (Cambridge, 1887-95, 1901, 1909), etc.
* Grabe's edition was published at Oxford, from 1707 to 1720, and reproduced, but imperfectly, the "Codex Alexandrinus" of London. For partial editions, see Vigouroux, "Dict. de la Bible", 1643 sqq.
The Septuagint has been translated into English. Most notable is
Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint, based primarily upon
Codex Vaticanus. More recently, Brenton's translation has been used as the inspiration for a modern-language version, by Paul Esposito,
The Apostles' Bible.
Further, Peter A. Papoutsis has translated a substantial amount of the Septuagint into English in his translation called The Holy Orthodox Bible. This translation is based on Greek Orthodox Biblical and Liturgical texts of the Septuagint as used in The Holy Orthodox Church.
Although the integrity of the Septuagint over the Masoretic is upheld by both the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian New Testament, it too shows signs of age. It is found in at least one highly unreliable text (Codex Alexandrinus). The Septuagint is also found in the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. The title "Septuagint" is of course not to be confused with the seven or more other Greek versions of the Old Testament, most of which do not survive except as fragments. These other Greek versions were once in side-by-side columns of
Origen's
Hexapla, now almost wholly lost.
The original Old Greek text of the Book of Daniel has been recently rediscovered and work is ongoing in reconstructing a more ancient form of the Septuagint as a whole.
Like the New Testament, the LXX is a particularly excellent text when compared to other ancient works with textual variants. To reject the existence of a Septuagint on the grounds of typographical error and other variants is a questionable opinion. Moreover, in many of the places where the LXX differs from the
Masoretic Text, the same variants exist in the
Dead Sea Scrolls, showing the antiquity of some of these variants and the reliability of the LXX.
Link 1,
Link 2*
Documentary hypothesis - Discusses the formation of the
Torah/
Pentateuch.
*
"Artscroll" Tanach.* Brenton, Lancelot C. L. 2001.
The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English Hendrickson Publishers. (Originally published 1851.)
* Hoffman, Joel M. 2004.
In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language New York: NYU Press.
General
*
The Septuagint Online - Comprehensive site with scholarly discussion and links to texts and translations
*
Jewish Encyclopedia: Bible Translations*
Catholic Encyclopedia: Septuagint Version*
Catholic Encyclopedia: Versions of the Bible*
A thorough analysis of the Septuagint with resources*
Comparison of names in the LXX and Hebrew Bible (
PDF)
*
A discussion of the LXX compared to the Jamnian (Palestinian) Old TestamentTexts and translations
*
Bible Resource Pages - contains Septuagint texts (with diacritics) side-by-side with English translations
*
Greek text with
diacritics from the Apostolic Diakonia of the
Church of Greece.
*
Septuagint and New Testament - Greek Text of the Septuagint and NT with
parsing (no diacritics).
*
Greek text - Complete Greek text (no diacritics, needs special
font) hyperlinked to Strong's concordance.
*
The Septuagint in classical Greek as a
MS Word document
*
A recent interlinear edition of the Septuagint and Greek New Testament (
monotonic,
GIF images)
*
The original LXX Book of Daniel in Greek (no diacritics, needs special font)
*
Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton's translation*
The Septuagint LXX: Greek and English partial version of Brenton's edition,
wiki text and
PNG images. (difficult navigation)
*
The New English Translation of the Septuagint, preliminary edition*
Project to produce an Orthodox Study Bible whose Old Testament is based entirely on the Septuagint.*
The Holy Orthodox Bible, another English translation project of the Septuagint using Greek Orthodox texts of the SeptuagintThe LXX and the NT
*
Septuagint references in NT by John Salza
*
The New Testament and the Septuagint - Instances where the New Testament quotes the LXX against the Masoretic Hebrew
*
The New Testament and the Hebrew OT - Instances where the New Testament quote agrees with the Masoretic Hebrew meaning
*
A defense of the quoting of the LXX by the writers of the New Testament.| LXX | LXX Anglicized | MT Anglicized |
|---|
|
|
|
| Law | |
| Genesis | Genesis |
| Exodus | Exodus |
| Leviticus | Leviticus |
| Numbers | Numbers |
| Deuteronomy | Deuteronomy |
| |
| History | |
| Jesus Nauë | Joshua |
| Judges | Judges |
| Ruth | Ruth |
| Kingdoms* |
| I | I Samuel |
| II | II Samuel |
| III | I Kings |
| IV | II Kings |
| Paraleipoménōn |
| I | I Chronicles |
| II | II Chronicles |
| Esdras |
| I | — |
| II | Ezra & Nehemiah |
| Es·th·er | Esther+ |
| Iudith | — |
| Tobit | — |
| |
| Wisdom | |
| Psalms | Psalms |
| Iōb | Job |
| Proverbs | Proverbs |
| Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes |
| Song of Songs | Song of Solomon |
| Wisdom of Salomon | — |
| Wisdom of Jesus Seirach | — |
| |
| Prophets | |
| The Twelve |
| I. Osëe | Hosea |
| II. Ämōs | Amos |
| III. Michai | Micah |
| IV. Ioel | Joel |
| V. Obdiu | Obadiah |
| VI. Ionas | Jonah |
| VII. Naum | Nahum |
| VIII. Ambakum | Habakkuk |
| IX. Sophony | Zephaniah |
| X. Angai | Haggai |
| XI. Zachary | Zachariah |
| XII. Messenger | Malachi |
| Hesai | Isaiah |
| Hieremy | Jeremiah |
| Baruch | — |
| Lamentations | Lamentations |
| Iezekiel | Ezekiel |
| Daniel | Daniel+ |
NOTE: LXX=Septuagint, MT=Masoretic Text. To these books of the old Greek LXX were added the Anagignoskomena before the time of Christ. This table does not attempt a verse-mapping of texts. In the Vetus Latina, translated from Greek, '"Thobis'" is written in place of the Vulgate's "Tobias."
* (Basileion) is the genitive plural of (Basileia) which means kingdom. It is not the same as the nominative singular of ''᾽᾽ (royal house). |
|
