Editing Septuagint (section)

{{short description|Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{about| the Greek Bible translation|the number|70 (number)|the moth|Septuaginta zagulajevi{{!}}''Septuaginta zagulajevi''|other uses|Septuagint (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox manuscript
| name                  = Septuagint
| image                 = Codex Vaticanus (1 Esdras 1-55 to 2-5) (The S.S. Teacher's Edition-The Holy Bible).jpg
| caption               = Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of [[uncial]] book from [[1 Esdras]] in the ''[[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]]'' {{circa|325–350 AD|lk=no}}, the basis of [[Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton]]'s Greek edition and [[Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint|English translation]]
| Also known as         = {{hlist|LXX|Greek [[Old Testament]]}}
| Date                  = {{circa|3rd century BC|lk=no}}
| Language(s)           = [[Koine Greek]]
}}
{{Bible related|TM}}
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<!-- Septuagint: definition & etymology -->
The '''Septuagint''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|p|tj|u|ə|dʒ|ɪ|n|t}} {{respell|SEP|tew|ə|jint}}),<ref name=Wells2008>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref> sometimes referred to as the '''Greek Old Testament''' or '''The Translation of the Seventy''' ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα|Hē metáphrasis tôn Hebdomḗkonta}}), and abbreviated as '''LXX''',<ref name=goarch>{{cite web |author=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |author-link=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |title=About Septuagint.Bible |work=The Septuagint: LXX – The Greek Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures |publisher=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |location=New York |year=2022 |url=https://www.septuagint.bible/home |access-date=25 December 2022}}</ref> is the earliest extant Greek translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]] from the original [[Biblical Hebrew]].<ref name=Stefon2011>{{cite book |last1=Stefon |first1=Matt |title=Judaism: History, Belief, and Practice |year=2011 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-1-61530-487-5 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMBhDVwY_HcC&pg=PA45}}</ref><ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Septuagint |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=3 November 2022 |last=Petruzzello |first=Melissa |location=Chicago |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint |access-date=25 December 2022}}</ref> The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the [[Letter of Aristeas]] to [[Philocrates]] that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into [[Koine Greek|the Greek language]] at the request of [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] (285–247 BC) by seventy-two Hebrew [[sofer|translators]]—six from each of the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]].<ref name=Aristeas>{{cite book |author=Aristeas of Marmora |author-link1=Aristeas of Marmora |translator-last1=St. John Thackeray |translator-first1=Henry |translator-link1=Henry St. John Thackeray |title=The Letter Of Aristeas, translated into English |pages=7–15 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |year=1904 |url=https://archive.org/details/letteraristeas00englgoog/page/n14/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name=Megillah>[[Megillah (Talmud)|Tractate Megillah 9]] [https://www.sefaria.org/Megillah.9a.11 (9a)]</ref><ref name=Soferim>[[Soferim (Talmud)|Tractate Soferim 1]] [https://www.sefaria.org/Tractate_Soferim.1.7-8 (1:7-8)]</ref>

<!-- Septuagint: who wrote it, when and where -->
[[Textual criticism|Biblical scholars]] agree that the [[Torah|first five books of the Hebrew Bible]] were translated from [[Biblical Hebrew]] into Koine Greek by Jews living in the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]], centred on the [[History of the Jews in Alexandria|large community in Alexandria]], probably in the early or middle part of the 3rd century BC.<ref name=Ross2021>{{cite web |last=Ross |first=William A. |title=The Most Important Bible Translation You've Never Heard Of |work=Articles |publisher=Text & Canon Institute of the [[Phoenix Seminary]] |location=Scottsdale, Arizona |date=15 November 2021 |url=https://textandcanon.org/the-most-important-bible-translation-youve-never-heard-of/ |access-date=25 December 2022}}</ref> The remaining books were presumably translated in the 2nd century BC.<ref name=Britannica /><ref name=Beckwith2008>{{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Roger T. |author-link=Roger T. Beckwith |title=The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church: and its Background in Early Judaism |pages=382, 383 |publisher=Wipf and Stock |location=Eugene, Oregon |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-60608-249-2}}</ref><ref name=Tov1988>{{cite book |last=Tov |first=Emanuel |author-link=Emanuel Tov |editor-last1=Mulder |editor-first1=Martin Jan |editor-last2=Sysling |editor-first2=Harry |title=Mikra: text, translation, reading, and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in ancient Judaism and early Christianity |chapter=The Septuagint |pages=161–2 |publisher=Fortress |location=Philadelphia |year=1988 |isbn=0-8006-0604-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eZ5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161}}</ref> Some [[targum]]s translating or paraphrasing the Bible into [[Aramaic]] were also made during the [[Second Temple period]].<ref name=Sulman2020>{{cite book |last1=van Staalduine-Sulman |first1=Eveline |editor-last1=Shepherd |editor-first1=David James |editor-last2=Joosten |editor-first2=Jan |editor-link2=Jan Joosten (biblical scholar) |editor-last3=van der Meer |editor-first3=Michaël |volume=193 |series=Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism |title=Septuagint, Targum and Beyond: Comparing Aramaic and Greek Versions from Jewish Antiquity |chapter=Simeon the Just, the Septuagint and Targum Jonathan |page=327 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, Netherlands |year=2020 |isbn=978-9004416727 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nu9DwAAQBAJ&q=%22the%20entire%20old%20testament%20into%20aramaic%20in%20the%20year%2042%22}}</ref>

<!-- Septuagint: why was it written, and for whom -->
Few people could speak and even fewer could read in the Hebrew language during the Second Temple period; Koine Greek<ref name=Stefon2011 /><ref name=Collins>{{cite Collins Dictionary|Koine |access-date=2014-09-24}}</ref><ref name=Dictionary>{{cite Dictionary.com|Koine}}</ref><ref name=MW>{{cite Merriam-Webster|Koine}}</ref> and Aramaic were the [[lingua franca|linguas franca]] at that time among the Jewish community. The Septuagint, therefore, satisfied a need in the Jewish community.<ref name=Ross2021 /><ref name=Toy1906>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Toy |first1=Crawford Howell |author-link1=Crawford Howell Toy |last2=Gottheil |first2=Richard |author-link2=Richard Gottheil |title=Bible Translations: The Septuagint |encyclopedia=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]] |year=1906 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |location=New York |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13432-septuagint#anchor3 |access-date=25 December 2022}}</ref>