Editing Septuagint

{{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>

== Etymology ==
The term "Septuagint" is derived from the Latin phrase {{lang|la|Vetus Testamentum ex versione Septuaginta Interpretum}} ("The Old Testament from the version of the Seventy Translators").<ref name=OUP1875>{{cite book |title=Vetus Testamentum ex versione Septuaginta Interpretum |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1875 |url=https://archive.org/details/vetustestamentum01oxon/page/n5/mode/2up |edition=2nd |volume=1 |language=el}}</ref> This phrase in turn was derived from the {{langx|grc-x-koine|Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα|hē metáphrasis tôn hebdomḗkonta|The Translation of the Seventy|links=no}}.<ref name=Jobes2001 /> It was not until the time of [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430&nbsp;AD) that the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures was called by the Latin term {{lang|la|Septuaginta}}.<ref name=Sundberg>Sundberg, in McDonald & Sanders, eds., ''The Canon Debate'', p.72.</ref> The Roman numeral LXX (seventy) is commonly used as an abbreviation,<ref name=goarch /> in addition to <math> \mathfrak{G} </math> or ''G''.<ref name=BHS>''[[Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia]]'', for instance.</ref>

== Composition ==

=== Jewish legend ===
[[File:Letter of Aristeas (Vat. gr. 747 f. 1r).jpg|thumb|alt=Fragment of a Greek manuscript|upright=1.2|Beginning of the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 11th century)]]
According to tradition, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (the Greek Pharaoh of Egypt) sent seventy-two Hebrew [[sofer|translators]]—six from each of the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]]—from [[Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period|Jerusalem]] to [[Alexandria]] to translate the ''Tanakh'' from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek, for inclusion in [[Library of Alexandria|his library]].<ref name=Dines2004>{{cite book |last=Dines |first=Jennifer M. |editor-last=Knibb |editor-first=Michael A. |editor-link=Michael A. Knibb |title=The Septuagint |series=Understanding the Bible and Its World |edition=1st |publisher=T&T Clark |location=London |year=2004 |isbn=0-567-08464-7}}</ref> This narrative is found in the possibly [[Pseudepigrapha|pseudepigraphic]] Letter of Aristeas to his brother Philocrates,<ref name=Davila1999>{{cite web |last=Davila |first=J |title=Aristeas to Philocrates |website=Summary of lecture by Davila, February 11, 1999 |publisher=University of St. Andrews, School of Divinity |year=2008 |url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/otp/abstracts/aristeas/ |access-date=19 June 2011 |archive-date=18 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618050330/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/otp/abstracts/aristeas/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> and is repeated by [[Philo]] of Alexandria, [[Josephus]] (in ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]''),<ref name=Whiston1998>{{cite book |author=William Whiston |title=The Complete Works of Josephus |year=1998 |publisher=[[T. Nelson Publishers]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4YBAAAACAAJ |isbn=978-0-7852-1426-7 |author-link=William Whiston}}</ref> and by later sources (including Augustine of Hippo).<ref name=Augustine>Augustine of Hippo, ''The City of God'' 18.42.</ref> It is also found in the Tractate [[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]] of the [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]]:

{{quote|King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one, without revealing to them why they were summoned. He entered each one's room and said: "Write for me the Torah of [[Moses|Moshe]], your teacher". God put it in the heart of each one to translate identically as all the others did.<ref name=Megillah />}}

Philo of Alexandria writes that the number of scholars was chosen by selecting six scholars from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Caution is needed here regarding the accuracy of this statement by Philo of Alexandria, as it implies that the twelve tribes were still in existence during King Ptolemy's reign, and that the [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of the twelve tribes had not been forcibly resettled by [[Assyrian captivity|Assyria]] almost 500 years previously.<ref name=Shavitsky2012>{{Cite book |last=Ziva |first=Shavitsky |title=The Mystery of the Ten Lost Tribes: A Critical Survey of Historical and Archaeological Records relating to the People of Israel in Exile in Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia up to ca. 300 BCE |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4438-3502-2 |location=Cambridge, England}}</ref>{{bsn|date=January 2025}} Although not all the people of the ten tribes were scattered, many peoples of the ten tribes sought refuge in Jerusalem and survived, preserving a remnant of each tribe and their lineages. Jerusalem swelled to five times its prior population due to the influx of refugees. According to later [[rabbinic tradition]] (which considered the Greek translation as a distortion of sacred text and unsuitable for use in the synagogue), the Septuagint was given to Ptolemy two days before the annual [[Tenth of Tevet]] fast.<ref name=Toy1906 /><ref name=Turim>[[Arba'ah Turim|Tur]] Orach Chaim 580, quoting [[Simeon Kayyara|Bahag]].</ref>

According to [[Aristobulus of Alexandria]]'s fragment 3, portions of the Law were translated from Hebrew into Greek long before the well-known Septuagint version. He stated that [[Plato]] and [[Pythagoras]] knew the Jewish Law and borrowed from it.<ref name=Yarbro>[[Adela Yarbro Collins|A. Yarbro Collins]], ''Aristobulus (Second Century B.C.). A New Translation And Introduction'', in [[James H. Charlesworth]] (1985), ''The Old Testament Pseudoepigrapha'', Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company Inc., Volume 2, {{ISBN|0-385-09630-5}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|0-385-18813-7}} (Vol. 2), p. 831.</ref>

In the preface to his 1844 [[The Septuagint version of the Old Testament (Brenton)|translation of the Septuagint]], [[Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton]] acknowledges that the [[History of the Jews in Alexandria|Jews of Alexandria]] were likely to have been the writers of the Septuagint, but dismisses Aristeas' account as a [[Noble lie#Pious fiction|pious fiction]]. Instead, he asserts that the real origin of the name "Septuagint" pertains to the fact that the earliest version was forwarded by the authors to the Jewish [[Sanhedrin]] at Alexandria for editing and approval.<ref name=Brenton1844>{{cite book |editor-link2= |translator-last1=Brenton |translator-first1=Lancelot Charles Lee |translator-link1=Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton |edition=1st |volume=1 |title=The Septuagint version of the Old Testament |chapter=Preface |pages=vii |publisher=[[Samuel Bagster the Elder|Samuel Bagster and Sons]] |location=London |year=1844 |url=https://archive.org/details/septuagintversio00bren/page/n13/mode/2up}}</ref>

The Jews of Alexandria celebrated the translation with an annual festival on the island of Pharos, where the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]] stood—the location where the translation was said to have taken place. During the festival, a large gathering of Jews, along with some non-Jewish visitors, would assemble on the beach for a grand picnic.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barclay |first=John M. G. |title=Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: from Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE–117 CE) |date=1998 |publisher=T&T Clark |isbn=978-0-567-08651-8 |edition= |location=Edinburgh |pages=424}}</ref>

=== History ===
The 3rd century BC is supported for the translation of the [[Torah|Pentateuch]] by a number of factors, including its Greek being representative of early Koine Greek, citations beginning as early as the 2nd century BC, and early [[manuscript]]s datable to the 2nd century BC.<ref name=Lee1983>J.A.L. Lee, A Lexical Study of the Septuagint Version of the Pentateuch (Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 14. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983; Reprint SBL, 2006)</ref> After the Torah, other books were translated over the next two to three centuries. It is unclear which was translated when, or where; some may have been translated twice (into different versions), and then revised.<ref name=Kalvesmaki>Joel Kalvesmaki, [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/The Septuagint]</ref> The quality and style of the translators varied considerably from book to book, from a [[literal translation]] to [[paraphrase|paraphrasing]] to an interpretative style.

The translation process of the Septuagint and from the Septuagint into other versions can be divided into several stages: the Greek text was produced within the social environment of [[Hellenistic Judaism]], and completed by 132&nbsp;BC. With the spread of [[Early Christianity]], this Septuagint in turn was rendered into Latin in a variety of versions and the latter, collectively known as the ''{{lang|la|[[Vetus Latina]]}}'', were also referred to as the Septuagint<ref name=Linde2015>Cornelia Linde, [https://books.google.com/books?id=RxjGBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 ''How to Correct the Sacra Scriptura? Textual Criticism of the Bible between the Twelfth and Fifteenth Century,''] Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature 2015 {{isbn|978-0907570448}} pp.9ff,29ff.</ref><ref name=ABRL>[https://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West'' (2004)], Anchor Bible Reference Library, [[Alan F. Segal]], p.363</ref><ref name=Dorival1988>Gilles Dorival, Marguerite Harl, and Olivier Munnich, ''La Bible grecque des Septante: Du judaïsme hellénistique au christianisme ancien'' (Paris: Cerfs, 1988), p.111</ref> initially in [[Early centers of Christianity#Alexandria|Alexandria]] but elsewhere as well.<ref name=Jobes2001>{{cite book |author=[[Karen Jobes]] and [[Moisés Silva]] |title=Invitation to the Septuagint |year=2015 |publisher=[[Baker Academic]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6bmCgAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-4934-0004-1 |edition=2nd}}</ref> The Septuagint also formed the basis for the [[Old Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]], [[Syro-Hexaplar version|Syriac]], Old [[Armenian language|Armenian]], Old [[Georgian language|Georgian]], and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] versions of the Christian [[Old Testament]].<ref name=Würthwein1995>Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament,'' trans. Errol F. Rhodes, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. Eerdmans, 1995.</ref>

=== Language ===
The Septuagint is written in Koine Greek. Some sections contain [[Semitism (linguistics)|Semiticisms]], which are idioms and phrases based on [[Semitic languages]] such as [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]].<ref name=Swete1989 /> Other books, such as [[book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], have a stronger Greek influence.<ref name=Dines2004 />

The Septuagint may also clarify pronunciation of pre-[[Masoretic Text|Masoretic]] Hebrew; many [[proper noun]]s are spelled with Greek [[vowel]]s in the translation, but contemporary Hebrew texts lacked [[Niqqud|vowel pointing]]. However, it is unlikely that all [[Biblical Hebrew]] sounds had precise Greek equivalents.<ref name=Joüon2000>Paul Joüon, SJ, ''A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew,'' trans. and revised by T. Muraoka, vol. I, Rome: Editrice Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 2000.</ref>

=== Canonical differences ===
The Septuagint does not consist of a single, unified corpus. Rather, it is a collection of ancient translations of the ''Tanakh'', along with other Jewish texts that are now commonly referred to as [[Biblical apocrypha|apocrypha]]. Importantly, the [[Development of the Hebrew Bible canon|canon of the Hebrew Bible was evolving]] over the century or so in which the Septuagint was being written. Also, the texts were translated by many different people, in different locations, at different times, for different purposes, and often from different original Hebrew manuscripts.<ref name=Ross2021 />

The [[Hebrew Bible]], also called the ''Tanakh'', has three parts: the ''[[Torah]]'' ("Law"), the ''[[Nevi'im]]'' ("Prophets"), and the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' ("Writings"). The Septuagint has four: law, history, poetry, and prophets. The books of the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]] were inserted at appropriate locations.<ref name=Stefon2011 /><ref name=Britannica /> Extant copies of the Septuagint, which date from the 4th century AD, contain books and additions<ref name=Blowers2019>{{cite book |last1=Blowers |first1=Paul M. |last2=Martens |first2=Peter W |title=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation |year=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |pages=59, 60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jguXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |access-date=17 October 2019 |isbn=978-0-19-102820-5}}</ref> not present in the Hebrew Bible as established in the [[Development of the Hebrew Bible canon|Jewish canon]]<ref name="Schiffman1991">{{cite book |author1=Lawrence H. Schiffman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kWYHyBb4C8C |title=From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism |author2=Sol Scharfstein |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-88125-372-6 |page=120}}</ref> and are not uniform in their contents. According to some scholars, there is no evidence that the Septuagint included these additional books.<ref name=Ellis1992>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=E. E. |title=The Old Testament in Early Christianity |year=1992 |publisher=Baker |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=978VyfpZy7YC&pg=PA34 |access-date=16 November 2022 |isbn=978-3-16-145660-2}}</ref><ref name=Beckwith2008 /> These copies of the Septuagint include books known as ''[[anagignoskomena]]'' in Greek and in English as [[Deuterocanonical books|deuterocanon]] (derived from the Greek words for "second canon"), books not included in the modern Jewish canon.<ref name=Meade2018>{{cite journal |last1=Meade |first1=John D. |title=Was there a "Septuagint Canon"? |journal=Didaktikos: Journal of Theological Education. |url=https://academic.logos.com/was-there-a-septuagint-canon/#easy-footnote-bottom-3-8069 |access-date=8 October 2019 |date=23 March 2018}}</ref><ref name=Tov1988 /> These books are estimated to have been written between 200&nbsp;BC and 50&nbsp;AD. Among them are the first two books of [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]]; Tobit; Judith; the Wisdom of Solomon; Sirach; Baruch (including the Letter of Jeremiah), and additions to Esther and Daniel. The Septuagint version of some books, such as Daniel and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], are longer than those in the [[Masoretic Text]], which were affirmed as canonical in [[Rabbinic Judaism]].<ref name=Jones>Rick Grant Jones, ''Various Religious Topics,'' "[https://web.archive.org/web/20030606114529/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/sp_books.html Books of the Septuagint]", (Accessed 2006.9.5).</ref> The Septuagint [[Book of Jeremiah]] is shorter than the Masoretic Text.<ref name=Blenkinsopp1996>{{Cite book |last=Blenkinsopp |first=Joseph |title=A history of prophecy in Israel |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6P9YEd9lXeAC&pg=PA166 |isbn=978-0-664-25639-5 |page=130}}</ref> The [[Psalms of Solomon]], [[1 Esdras]], [[3 Maccabees]], [[4 Maccabees]], the [[Letter of Jeremiah]], the [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Book of Odes]], the [[Prayer of Manasseh]] and [[Psalm 151]] are included in some copies of the Septuagint.<ref name=BibleResearcher>{{cite web |title=The Old Testament Canon and Apocrypha |url=http://www.bible-researcher.com/canon2.html |website=BibleResearcher |access-date=27 November 2015}}{{better source needed|date=November 2015|reason=This statement should be based on reliable sources.}}</ref>

The Septuagint has been rejected as scriptural by mainstream Rabbinic Judaism for a couple of reasons. First, the Septuagint differs from the [[Masoretic Text|Hebrew source texts]] in many cases (particularly in the [[Book of Job]]).<ref name=Toy1906 /> For example, according to [[Heinrich Guggenheimer]], intentional mistranslations in Deuteronomy 6 make reference to ancient sources of the [[Haggadah|Passover Haggadah]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guggenheimer |first=Heinrich |title=The Scholar's Haggadah: Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Oriental Versions |date=1998 |publisher=Jason Aronson |isbn=978-0-7657-6040-1 |edition= |location=Northvale, NJ}}</ref> Second, the translations appear at times to demonstrate an ignorance of Hebrew idiomatic usage.<ref name=Toy1906 /> A particularly noteworthy example of this phenomenon is found in [[Isaiah 7:14]], in which the Hebrew word {{Script/Hebrew|עַלְמָה}} ({{tlit|he|'almāh}}, which translates into English as "young woman") is translated into the Koine Greek as {{lang|grc|παρθένος}} ({{tlit|grc|parthenos}}, which translates into English as "virgin").<ref name=Sweeney1996>{{cite book |last=Sweeney |first=Marvin A. |author-link=Marvin A. Sweeney |edition=1st |volume=XVI |series=[[The Forms of the Old Testament Literature]] |title=Isaiah 1–39: With an Introduction to Prophetic Literature |chapter=The Individual Units of Isaiah 1:1-39:8 |page=161 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |year=1996 |isbn=0-8028-4100-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BdSzj9-SZv0C&pg=PA161}}</ref>

The Septuagint became synonymous with the Greek Old Testament, a Christian canon incorporating the books of the Hebrew canon with additional texts. Although the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] include most of the books in the Septuagint in their canons, [[Protestantism|Protestant churches]] usually do not. After the [[Reformation]], many [[Protestant Bible]]s began to follow the Jewish [[Biblical canon|canon]] and exclude the additional texts (which came to be called the Apocrypha) as noncanonical.<ref name=Blocher2004>{{cite journal |last1=Blocher |first1=Henri |title=Helpful or Harmful? The "Apocrypha" and Evangelical Theology |journal=European Journal of Theology |volume=13 |year=2004 |issue=2 |pages=81–90}}</ref><ref name=Webster>{{cite web |last1=Webster |first1=William |title=The Old Testament Canon and the Apocrypha Part 3 |url=http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/Apocrypha3.html |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-date=13 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213013409/http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/Apocrypha3.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the [[King James Version]] of the Bible.<ref name=nets>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ |title=NETS: Electronic Edition |publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu |date=11 February 2011 |access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+ Deuterocanonical and apocryphal books in the Septuagint
|-
! Greek name<ref name=Jobes2001 /><ref name=McLay>Timothy McLay, ''The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research {{ISBN|0-8028-6091-5}}.''—The current standard introduction on the NT & LXX.</ref>{{Efn|The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Eastern Orthodoxy.|name=disputed|group=}}
! Transliteration
! English name
|-
|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανασσῆ}}||Proseuchē Manassē||[[Prayer of Manasseh]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}||1 Esdras||[[1 Esdras]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}} (called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources)||Tōbit (or Tōbeit or Tōbith)||[[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}}||Ioudith||[[Judith]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}}||Esthēr||Esther (with [[Book of Esther#Additions to Esther|additions]])
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}}||1 Makkabaiōn||[[1 Maccabees]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}}||2 Makkabaiōn||[[2 Maccabees]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}}||3 Makkabaiōn||[[3 Maccabees]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ' Παράρτημα}}||4 Makkabaiōn Parartēma||[[4 Maccabees]]<ref>Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in an appendix of the Orthodox Canon.</ref>
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}}||Psalmos 151||[[Psalm 151]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλομῶντος}}||Sophia Salomōntos||Wisdom or [[Wisdom of Solomon]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}}||Sophia Iēsou Seirach||[[Sirach]] or Ecclesiasticus
|-
|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}}||Barouch||[[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολὴ Ἰερεμίου}}||Epistolē Ieremiou||[[Letter of Jeremiah]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}}||Daniēl||Daniel (with [[Additions to Daniel|additions]])
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοὶ Σαλομῶντος}}||Psalmoi Salomōntos||[[Psalms of Solomon]]{{efn|name=nets|Not in the Eastern Orthodox canon, but originally included in the LXX.<ref name=NETS>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ |title=NETS: Electronic Edition |access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref>|group=}}
|}

=== Final form ===
All the books in Western Old Testament [[biblical canon]]s are found in the Septuagint, although the order does not always coincide with the Western book order. The Septuagint order is evident in the earliest Christian Bibles, which were written during the 4th century.<ref name=Dines2004 />

Some books which are set apart in the Masoretic Text are grouped together. The [[Books of Samuel]] and the [[Books of Kings]] are one four-part book entitled {{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileon, '[[Books of the Kingdoms|Of Reigns]]') in the Septuagint. The [[Books of Chronicles]], known collectively as Παραλειπομένων (Paraleipoménon, 'Of Things Left Out') supplement Reigns. The Septuagint organizes the [[minor prophets]] in its twelve-part Book of Twelve, as does the Masoretic Text.<ref name=Dines2004 />

Some ancient scriptures are found in the Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew Bible. The books are [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]; [[Judith]]; the [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]]; [[Book of Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach]];{{Efn|This Jesus is not to be confused with Jesus of Nazareth.|name=JesusClarification|group=}} [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] and the [[Letter of Jeremiah]], which became chapter six of Baruch in the [[Vulgate]]; the additions to Daniel ([[The Prayer of Azariah|The Prayer of Azarias]], the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Song of the Three Children]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]], and [[Bel and the Dragon]]); the additions to [[Book of Esther|Esther]]; [[1 Maccabees]]; [[2 Maccabees]]; [[3 Maccabees]]; [[4 Maccabees]]; [[1 Esdras]]; [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]] (including the [[Prayer of Manasseh]]); the [[Psalms of Solomon]], and [[Psalm 151]].

Fragments of deuterocanonical books in Hebrew are among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] found at [[Qumran]]. [[Sirach]], whose text in Hebrew was already known from the [[Cairo Geniza]], has been found in two scrolls (2QSir or 2Q18, 11QPs_a or 11Q5) in Hebrew. Another Hebrew scroll of Sirach has been found in [[Masada]] (MasSir).<ref name=Abegg>{{cite book |last1=Abegg |first1=Martin |last2=Flint |first2=Peter |last3=Ulrich |first3=Eugene |title=The Dead Sea Scroll Bible |year=1999 |publisher=HarperOne |isbn=978-0-06-060064-8}}</ref>{{rp|597}} Five fragments from the Book of Tobit have been found in Qumran: four written in [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] and one written in Hebrew (papyri 4Q, nos. 196-200).<ref name=Abegg />{{rp|636}} Psalm 151 appears with a number of canonical and non-canonical psalms in the Dead Sea scroll 11QPs(a) (also known as 11Q5), a 1st-century AD scroll discovered in 1956.<ref name=Sanders1963>{{Citation |first=JA |last=Sanders |title=Ps. 151 in 11QPss |journal=Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft |volume=75 |year=1963 |pages=73–86 |doi=10.1515/zatw.1963.75.1.73 |s2cid=170573233}}, and slightly revised in {{Citation |editor-first=JA |editor-last=Sanders |title=The Psalms Scroll of Qumrân Cave 11 (11QPsa) |journal=DJD |volume=4 |pages=54–64}}.</ref> The scroll contains two short Hebrew psalms, which scholars agree were the basis for Psalm 151.<ref name=Abegg />{{rp|585–586}} The canonical acceptance of these books varies by Christian tradition.

== Use ==

=== Jewish use ===
{{See also|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
It is unclear to what extent [[History of the Jews in Alexandria|Alexandrian Jews]] accepted the authority of the Septuagint. Manuscripts of the Septuagint have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and were thought to have been in use among various [[Essenes|Jewish sects]] at the time.<ref name=stpaulcenter>{{Cite web |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls |url=https://stpaulcenter.com/the-dead-sea-scrolls/ |access-date=2020-11-26 |website=St. Paul Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

Several factors led most Jews to abandon the Septuagint around the 2nd century AD. The earliest [[gentile]] Christians used the Septuagint out of necessity, since it was the only Greek version of the Bible and most (if not all) of these early non-[[Jewish Christian]]s could not read Hebrew. The association of the Septuagint with a rival religion may have made it suspect in the eyes of the newer generation of Jews and Jewish scholars.<ref name=Würthwein1995 /> Jews instead used Hebrew or Aramaic [[Targum]] manuscripts later compiled by the [[Masoretes]] and authoritative Aramaic translations, such as those of [[Targum Onkelos|Onkelos]] and [[Targum Jonathan|Rabbi Yonathan ben Uziel]].<ref name=Marcos2000>{{cite book |last1=Marcos |first1=Natalio F |title=The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek Bible |edition=2000}}</ref>

Perhaps most significant for the Septuagint, as distinct from other Greek versions, was that the Septuagint began to lose Jewish sanction after differences between it and contemporary Hebrew scriptures were discovered. Even [[Hellenistic Judaism|Greek-speaking Jews]] tended to prefer other Jewish versions in Greek (such as the translation by [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]]), which seemed to be more concordant with contemporary Hebrew texts.<ref name=Würthwein1995 />

=== Christian use ===
{{See also|Development of the Old Testament canon}}
The [[Early Christianity|Early Christian]] church used the Greek texts,<ref name=Toy1906 /> since Greek was a ''lingua franca'' of the eastern parts of the Roman Empire at the time and the language of the Greco-Roman Church, while [[Aramaic]] was the language of [[Syriac Christianity]]. The relationship between the apostolic use of the Septuagint and the Hebrew texts is complicated. Although the Septuagint seems to have been a major source for the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]], it is not the only one. St. Jerome offered, for example, [[Matthew 2:15]] and [[Matthew 2:23|2:23]], John 19:37,<ref>{{bibleverse|John|19:37|KJV}}</ref> John 7:38,<ref>{{bibleverse|John|7:38|KJV}}</ref> and 1 Corinthians 2:9<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|2:9|KJV}}</ref><ref name=JeromeApology>St. Jerome, ''Apology Book II''.</ref> as examples found in Hebrew texts but not in the Septuagint. Matthew 2:23 is not present in current Masoretic tradition either; according to [[Jerome]], however, it was in [[Isaiah 11:1]]. The New Testament writers freely used the Greek translation when citing the Jewish scriptures (or quoting Jesus doing so), implying that Jesus, his apostles, and their followers considered it reliable.<ref name=jewishencyclopedia>{{cite web |title=Saul of Tarsus |year=1906 |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11952-paul-of-tarsus |website=Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher=The Kopleman Foundation |access-date=10 February 2012}}</ref><ref name=Swete1989>H. B. Swete, ''An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek,'' revised by R.R. Ottley, 1914; reprint, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1989.</ref><ref name=Toy1906 />

In the early Christian Church, the presumption that the Septuagint was translated by Jews before the time of Christ and that it lends itself more to a [[Christological]] interpretation than 2nd-century Hebrew texts in certain places was taken as evidence that "Jews" had changed the Hebrew text in a way that made it less Christological. [[Irenaeus]] writes about [[Isaiah 7:14]] that the Septuagint clearly identifies a "virgin" (Greek ''παρθένος''; ''bethulah'' in Hebrew) who would conceive.<ref name=Paulkovich2012>{{Citation |title=No Meek Messiah |author=Paulkovich, Michael |year=2012 |publisher=Spillix Publishing |isbn=978-0-9882161-1-2 |page=24}}</ref> The word ''almah'' in the Hebrew text was, according to Irenaeus, interpreted by Theodotion and [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]] (Jewish [[Proselyte|converts]]), as a "young woman" who would conceive. Again according to Irenaeus, the [[Ebionites]] used this to claim that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus. To him that was [[Heresy in Christianity|heresy]] facilitated by late anti-Christian alterations of the scripture in Hebrew, as evident by the older, pre-Christian Septuagint.<ref name=Irenaeus>Irenaeus, ''Against Herecies Book III''.</ref>

Jerome broke with church tradition, translating most of the [[Old Testament]] of his [[Vulgate]] from Hebrew rather than Greek. His choice was sharply criticized by [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], his contemporary.<ref name="JeromeLXXI">Jerome, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii.1.LXXII.html From Jerome, Letter LXXI] (404&nbsp;AD), NPNF1-01. ''The Confessions and Letters of St. Augustin, with a Sketch of his Life and Work,'' Philip Schaff, Ed.</ref> Although Jerome argued for the superiority of the Hebrew texts in correcting the Septuagint on philological and theological grounds, because he was accused of heresy he also acknowledged the Septuagint texts.<ref name=Rebenich2013p58>Rebenich, S., ''Jerome'' (Routledge, 2013), p. 58. {{ISBN|978-1134638444}}</ref> Acceptance of Jerome's version increased, and it displaced the Septuagint's [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin translations]].<ref name=Würthwein1995 />

The [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox Church]] prefers to use the Septuagint as the basis for translating the Old Testament into other languages, and uses the untranslated Septuagint where Greek is the liturgical language.

Critical translations of the Old Testament which use the [[Masoretic Text]] as their basis consult the Septuagint and other versions to reconstruct the meaning of the Hebrew text when it is unclear, corrupted, or ambiguous.<ref name=Würthwein1995 /> According to the [[New Jerusalem Bible]] foreword, "Only when this (the Masoretic Text) presents insuperable difficulties have emendations or other versions, such as the [...] LXX, been used."<ref name=NJB1990>New Jerusalem Bible Readers Edition, 1990: London, citing the Standard Edition of 1985</ref> The translator's preface to the [[New International Version]] reads, "The translators also consulted the more important early versions (including) the Septuagint [...] Readings from these versions were occasionally followed where the [[Masoretic Text|MT]] seemed doubtful"<ref name=NIV1988>"Life Application Bible" (NIV), 1988: Tyndale House Publishers, using "Holy Bible" text, copyright International Bible Society 1973</ref>

== Textual history ==

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+ Books
! Greek name<ref name=Jobes2001 /><ref name=McLay />{{Efn|The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Eastern Orthodoxy.|name=disputed|group=}}
! Transliteration
! English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
|{{lang|grc|Γένεσις}}||Genesis||Genesis
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἔξοδος}}||Exodos||Exodus
|-
|{{lang|grc|Λευϊτικόν}}||Leuitikon||Leviticus
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἀριθμοί}}||Arithmoi||Numbers
|-
|{{lang|grc|Δευτερονόμιον}}||Deuteronomion||Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς}}||Iēsous||Joshua
|-
|{{lang|grc|Κριταί}}||Kritai||Judges
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}}||Routh||Ruth
|-
|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Αʹ{{efn|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of {{lang|grc|Βασιλεία}} (Basileia).}}}}||1 Basileiōn||Kings I (I Samuel)
|-
|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Βʹ}}||2 Basileiōn||Kings II (II Samuel)
|-
|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Γʹ}}||3 Basileiōn||Kings III (I Kings)
|-
|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Δʹ}}||4 Basileiōn||Kings IV (II Kings)
|-
|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Αʹ}}||1 Paraleipomenōn{{efn|That is, ''Of things set aside'' from {{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}.}}||Chronicles I
|-
|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Βʹ}}||2 Paraleipomenōn||Chronicles II
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}||[[1 Esdras]]||1 Esdras
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}}||2 Esdras||Ezra-Nehemiah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}}||Esthēr||Esther{{efn|Includes additions.|name=|group=}}
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}}||Ioudith||Judith
|-
|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}}{{efn|also called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources.}}||Tōbit{{efn|or Tōbeit or Tōbith}}||Tobit
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}}||[[1 Maccabees|1 Makkabaiōn]]||Maccabees I
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}}||[[2 Maccabees|2 Makkabaiōn]]||Maccabees II
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}}||[[3 Maccabees|3 Makkabaiōn]]||Maccabees III
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί}}||Psalmoi||Psalms
|-
||{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}}||Psalmos 151||[[Psalm 151]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανασσῆ}}||Proseuchē Manassē||[[Prayer of Manasseh]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ὠδαί}}||Odai||[[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Παροιμίαι}}||Paroimiai||Proverbs
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἐκκλησιαστής}}||Ekklēsiastēs||[[Ecclesiastes]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων}}||[[Song of Songs|Asma Asmatōn]]||Song of Songs or Song of Solomon or Canticle of Canticles
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}}||Iōb||[[Book of Job|Job]]
|-
|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλομῶντος}}||Sophia Salomōntos||Wisdom or Wisdom of Solomon
|-
|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}}||[[Book of Sirach|Sophia Iēsou Seirach]]||Sirach or Ecclesiasticus or Wisdom of Sirach
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ὡσηέ Αʹ}}||I. Hōsēe||Hosea
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἀμώς Βʹ}}||II. Āmōs||Amos
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μιχαίας Γʹ}}||III. Michaias||Micah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰωήλ Δʹ}}||IV. Iōēl||Joel
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ὀβδιού Εʹ}}{{efn|Obdiou is genitive from "The vision ''of'' Obdias", which opens the book.}}||V. Obdiou||Obadiah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰωνᾶς Ϛ'}}||VI. Iōnas||Jonah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ναούμ Ζʹ}}||VII. Naoum||Nahum
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἀμβακούμ Ηʹ}}||VIII. Ambakoum||Habakkuk
|-
|{{lang|grc|Σοφονίας Θʹ}}||IX. Sophonias||Zephaniah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἀγγαῖος Ιʹ}}||X. Angaios||Haggai
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας ΙΑʹ}}||XI. Zacharias||Zachariah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μαλαχίας ΙΒʹ}}||XII. Malachias||Malachi
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἠσαΐας}}||Ēsaias||Isaiah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}}||Hieremias||Jeremiah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}}||Barouch||Baruch
|-
|{{lang|grc|Θρῆνοι}}||Thrēnoi||Lamentations
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολὴ Ἰερεμίου}}||[[Letter of Jeremiah|Epistolē Ieremiou]]||Letter of Jeremiah
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}}||Iezekiēl||Ezekiel
|-
|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}}||Daniēl||Daniel{{Efn|Includes additions.|name=|group=}}
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ'}}||[[4 Maccabees|4 Makkabaiōn]]||Maccabees IV{{efn|Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in the appendix of some Eastern Orthodox Bibles if it is included.|name=|group=}}
|-
|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοὶ Σαλομῶντος}}||[[Psalms of Solomon|Psalmoi Salomōntos]]||Psalms of Solomon{{efn|Originally placed in an appendix after the Old and New Testaments in the Table of Contents of the Codex Alexandrinus, but not included in any modern canon due to its text being lost until the 17th century.|name=|group=}}
|}

=== Textual analysis ===
[[File:Texts of the OT.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|alt=Diagram of relationships between manuscripts|The inter-relationship between significant ancient Old Testament manuscripts (some identified by their ''[[Scribal abbreviation|siglum]]''). LXX denotes the original Septuagint.]]
{{Further|Textual variants in the Hebrew Bible}}
Modern scholarship holds that the Septuagint was written from the 3rd through the 1st centuries BC, but nearly all attempts at dating specific books (except for the Pentateuch, early- to mid-3rd century&nbsp;BC) are tentative.<ref name=Dines2004 /> Later Jewish revisions and [[recension]]s of the Greek against the Hebrew are well-attested. The best-known are [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]] (128&nbsp;AD), [[Symmachus the Ebionite|Symmachus]], and Theodotion. These three, to varying degrees, are more-literal renderings of their contemporary Hebrew scriptures compared to the Old Greek (the original Septuagint). Modern scholars consider one (or more) of the three to be new Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible.

Although much of [[Origen]]'s ''[[Hexapla]]'' (a six-version critical edition of the Hebrew Bible) is lost, several compilations of fragments are available. Origen kept a column for the Old Greek (the Septuagint), which included readings from all the Greek versions in a [[critical apparatus]] with diacritical marks indicating to which version each line (Gr. στίχος) belonged. Perhaps the ''Hexapla'' was never copied in its entirety, but Origen's combined text was copied frequently (eventually without the editing marks) and the older uncombined text of the Septuagint was neglected. The combined text was the first major Christian recension of the Septuagint, often called the ''Hexaplar recension''. Two other major recensions were identified in the century following Origen by [[Jerome]], who attributed these to [[Lucian of Antioch|Lucian]] (the Lucianic, or Antiochene, recension) and [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]] (the Hesychian, or Alexandrian, recension).<ref name=Dines2004 />

==== Manuscripts ====
{{Main|Septuagint manuscripts}}
The oldest manuscripts of the Septuagint 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 [[Twelve Minor Prophets]] ([[Alfred Rahlfs]] nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). Relatively-complete manuscripts of the Septuagint postdate the Hexaplar recension, and include the 4th-century AD [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]] and the 5th-century [[Codex Alexandrinus]]. These are the oldest-surviving nearly-complete manuscripts of the Old Testament in any language; the oldest extant complete Hebrew texts date to about 600 years later, from the first half of the 10th century.<ref name=Würthwein1995 /> The 4th-century [[Codex Sinaiticus]] also partially survives, with many Old Testament texts.<ref name=Würthwein1995 />{{rp|73}}{{rp|198}} The Jewish (and, later, Christian) revisions and recensions are largely responsible for the divergence of the codices.<ref name=Dines2004 /> The [[Codex Marchalianus]] is another notable manuscript.

==== Differences from the Vulgate and the Masoretic Text ====
The text of the Septuagint is generally close to that of the Masoretes and Vulgate. Genesis 4:1–6<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:1–6|KJV}}</ref> is identical in the Septuagint, Vulgate and the Masoretic Text, and Genesis 4:8<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:8|KJV}}</ref> to the end of the chapter is the same. There is only one noticeable difference in that chapter, at 4:7:{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

{|cellspacing="5" cellpadding="10"
|-style="text-align:center;"
|'''Genesis 4:7, LXX and English Translation ([[New English Translation of the Septuagint|NETS]])'''||'''Genesis 4:7, Masoretic and English Translation from MT ([[Judaica Press]])'''||'''Genesis 4:7, Latin Vulgate and English Translation (Douay-Rheims)'''
|-
|οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ.<br /><br />Have you not sinned if you have brought it righteously, but not righteously divided it? Be calm, to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him.||{{Script/Hebrew|הֲלוֹא אִם תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת וְאִם לֹא תֵיטִיב לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ וְאֵלֶיךָ תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ וְאַתָּה תִּמְשָׁל בּוֹ:}}<br /><br />Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it.||{{lang|la|nonne si bene egeris, recipies : sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit? sed sub te erit appetitus ejus, et tu dominaberis illius.}}<br /><br />If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
|}

The differences between the Septuagint and the MT fall into four categories:<ref name="Jinbachian">See Jinbachian, ''Some Semantically Significant Differences Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20040514084024/http://210.107.99.8/appendage/labhwp/Jinbachian.doc].</ref>
# ''Different Hebrew sources for the MT and the Septuagint''. Evidence of this can be found throughout the Old Testament. A subtle example may be found in Isaiah 36:11;<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|36:11|KJV}}</ref> the meaning remains the same, but the choice of words evidences a different text. The MT reads ''"...al tedaber yehudit be-'ozne ha`am al ha-homa"'' [speak not the Judean language in the ears of (or—which can be heard by) the people on the wall]. The same verse in the Septuagint reads, according to the translation of Brenton: "and speak not to us in the Jewish tongue: and wherefore speakest thou in the ears of the men on the wall." The MT reads "people" where the Septuagint reads "men". This difference is very minor and does not affect the meaning of the verse.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Scholars had used discrepancies such as this to claim that the Septuagint was a poor translation of the Hebrew original. This verse is found in Qumran (1QIsa''a''), however, where the Hebrew word ''"haanashim"'' (the men) is found in place of ''"haam"'' (the people). This discovery, and others like it, showed that even seemingly-minor differences of translation could be the result of variant Hebrew source texts.
# ''Differences in interpretation'' stemming from the same Hebrew text. An example is Genesis 4:7,<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:7|KJV}}</ref> shown above.
# ''Differences as a result of idiomatic translation issues'': A Hebrew idiom may not be easily translated into Greek, and some difference is imparted. In Psalm 47:10,<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalm|47:10|KJV}}</ref> the MT reads: "The shields of the earth belong to God"; the Septuagint reads, "To God are the mighty ones of the earth."
# ''Transmission changes in Hebrew or Greek'': Revision or recension changes and copying errors

==== Dead Sea Scrolls ====
The Biblical manuscripts found in [[Qumran]], commonly known as the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] (DSS), have prompted comparisons of the texts associated with the Hebrew Bible (including the Septuagint).<ref name=BAS>{{cite web |url=http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/searching-for-better-text.asp |title=Searching for the Better Text – Biblical Archaeology Society |publisher=Bib-arch.org |access-date=13 August 2012 |archive-date=14 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314095848/http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/searching-for-better-text.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Emanuel Tov]], editor of the translated scrolls,<ref name=Elderen>[http://sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=356 Edwin Yamauchi, '''"Bastiaan Van Elderen, 1924– 2004"''', SBL Forum] Accessed 26 March 2011.</ref> identifies five broad variants of DSS texts:<ref name=Tov2001>Tov, E. 2001. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2nd ed.) Assen/Maastricht: Van Gocum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press.</ref><ref name=Flint2002>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/978-9004493339/B9789004493339_s022.xml?language=en |last=Flint |first=Peter W. |year=2002 |chapter=The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls |title=The Stellenbosch AIBI-6 Conference. Proceedings of the Association Internationale Bible et Informatique "From Alpha to Byte" |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Cook |isbn=978-9004493339}}</ref>
# Proto-Masoretic: A stable text and numerous, distinct agreements with the Masoretic Text. About 60 per cent of the Biblical scrolls (including 1QIsa-b) are in this category.
# Pre-Septuagint: Manuscripts which have distinctive affinities with the Greek Bible. About five per cent of the Biblical scrolls, they include 4QDeut-q, 4QSam-a, 4QJer-b, and 4QJer-d. In addition to these manuscripts, several others share similarities with the Septuagint but do not fall into this category.
# The Qumran "Living Bible": Manuscripts which, according to Tov, were copied in accordance with the "Qumran practice": distinctive, long [[orthography]] and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], frequent errors and corrections, and a free approach to the text. They make up about 20 per cent of the Biblical corpus, including the [[Isaiah Scroll]] (1QIsa-a).
# Pre-Samaritan: DSS manuscripts which reflect the textual form of the Samaritan Pentateuch, although the Samaritan Bible is later and contains information not found in these earlier scrolls, (such as God's holy mountain at Shechem, rather than Jerusalem). These manuscripts, characterized by orthographic corrections and harmonizations with parallel texts elsewhere in the Pentateuch, are about five per cent of the Biblical scrolls and include 4QpaleoExod-m.
# Non-aligned: No consistent alignment with any of the other four text types. About 10 per cent of the Biblical scrolls, they include 4QDeut-b, 4QDeut-c, 4QDeut-h, 4QIsa-c, and 4QDan-a.<ref name=Tov2001 /><ref name=Shiffman>Laurence Shiffman, ''Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls'', p. 172</ref>{{efn|These percentages are disputed. Other scholars credit the Proto-Masoretic texts with 40 per cent, and posit larger contributions from Qumran-style and non-aligned texts. ''The Canon Debate'', McDonald and Sanders editors (2002), chapter 6: "Questions of Canon through the Dead Sea Scrolls" by James C. VanderKam, p. 94, citing private communication with [[Emanuel Tov]] on biblical manuscripts: Qumran scribe type c. 25 per cent, proto-Masoretic Text c. 40 per cent, pre-Samaritan texts c.5 per cent, texts close to the Hebrew model for the Septuagint c. 5 per cent and nonaligned c. 25 per cent.}}

The textual sources present a variety of readings; Bastiaan Van Elderen compares three variations of Deuteronomy 32:43, the [[Song of Moses]]:<ref name=Elderen />{{Failed verification|date=April 2019}}

{|cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-style="text-align:center;"
|'''Deuteronomy 32.43, Masoretic'''||'''Deuteronomy 32.43, Qumran'''||'''Deuteronomy 32.43, Septuagint'''
|-
|
:<span style="color:#f00;">''' '''</span>
:<span style="color:#f00;">'''.'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f00;">'''.'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f00;">'''1 Shout for joy, O nations, with his people'''</span>
:<span style="color:#fff;">'''-------'''</span>
:<span style="color:#0a0;">'''2 For he will avenge the blood of his servants'''</span>
:<span style="color:#039;">'''3 And will render vengeance to his adversaries'''</span>
:<span style="color:#fff;">'''-------'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f60;">'''4 And will purge his land, his people.'''</span>
||
:<span style="color:#f00;">'''1 Shout for joy, O heavens, with him'''</span>
:<span style="color:#603;">'''2 And worship him, all you divine ones'''</span>
:<span style="color:#fff;">'''-------'''</span>
:<span style="color:#fff;">'''-------'''</span>
:<span style="color:#0a0;">'''3 For he will avenge the blood of his sons'''</span>
:<span style="color:#039;">'''4 And he will render vengeance to his adversaries'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f0f;">'''5 And he will recompense the ones hating him'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f60;">'''6 And he purges the land of his people.'''</span>
||
:<span style="color:#f00;">'''1 Shout for joy, O heavens, with him'''</span>
:<span style="color:#603;">'''2 And let all the sons of God worship him'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f00;">'''3 Shout for joy, O nations, with his people'''</span>
:<span style="color:#666;">'''4 And let all the angels of God be strong in him'''</span>
:<span style="color:#0a0;">'''5 Because he avenges the blood of his sons'''</span>
:<span style="color:#039;">'''6 And he will avenge and recompense justice to his enemies'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f0f;">'''7 And he will recompense the ones hating'''</span>
:<span style="color:#f60;">'''8 And the Lord will cleanse the land of his people.'''</span>
|}

=== Print editions ===
The text of all print editions is derived from the recensions of Origen, Lucian, or Hesychius:
* The ''[[editio princeps]]'' is the [[Complutensian Polyglot Bible]]. Based on now-lost manuscripts, it is one of the received texts used for the KJV (similar to ''[[Textus Receptus]]'') and seems to convey quite early readings.<ref name=Ziegler>Joseph Ziegler, "Der griechische Dodekepropheton-Text der Complutenser Polyglotte", ''Biblica'' 25:297–310, cited in Würthwein1995.</ref>
* The {{Interlanguage link|Walton Polyglot|lt=Brian Walton Polyglot|it|Bibbia Poliglotta di Walton|WD=}} by [[Brian Walton (bishop)|Brian Walton]] is one of the few versions that includes a Septuagint not based on the Egyptian Alexandria-type text (such as Vaticanus, Alexandrinus and Sinaiticus), but follows the majority which agree (like the Complutensian Polyglot).
* The [[Aldine Bible|Aldine edition]] (begun by [[Aldus Manutius]]) was published in Venice in 1518. The editor says that he collated ancient, unspecified manuscripts, and it has been reprinted several times.
* The [[Roman Septuagint|Roman or Sixtine Septuagint]],<ref name=Zannetti1587>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UMBIAAAAcAAJ |title=He palaia diatheke etc. Vetus testamentum juxta septuaginta ex auctoritate Sixti V. ed |year=1587 |publisher=Franciscus Zannetti |language=el}}</ref> which uses ''[[Codex Vaticanus]]'' as the base text and later manuscripts for the [[Lacuna (manuscripts)|lacunae]] in the [[Uncial script|uncial manuscript]]. It was published in 1587 under the direction of [[Antonio Carafa (cardinal)|Antonio Carafa]], with the help of Roman scholars [[Gugliemo Sirleto]], [[Antonio Agelli]] and [[Petrus Morinus]] and by the authority of Sixtus V, to assist revisers preparing the Latin Vulgate edition ordered by the Council of Trent. It is the ''[[textus receptus]]'' of the Greek Old Testament and has been published in a number of editions, such as: those of [[Robert Holmes (priest)|Robert Holmes]] and [[James Parsons (clergyman)|James Parsons]] (Oxford, 1798–1827), the seven editions of [[Constantin von Tischendorf]] which appeared at Leipzig between 1850 and 1887 (the last two published after the death of the author and revised by Nestle), and the four editions of [[Henry Barclay Swete]] (Cambridge, 1887–95, 1901, 1909). A detailed description of this edition has been made by H. B. Swete in ''An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek'' (1900), pp.&nbsp;174–182.
* Grabe's edition was published in Oxford from 1707 to 1720 and reproduced, imperfectly, the [[Codex Alexandrinus]] of London. For partial editions, see [[Fulcran Vigouroux]], ''Dictionnaire de la Bible'', 1643 and later.
* [[Alfred Rahlfs' edition of the Septuagint]]. [[Alfred Rahlfs]], a Septuagint researcher at the [[University of Göttingen]], began a manual edition of the Septuagint in 1917 or 1918. The completed ''Septuaginta'', published in 1935, relies mainly on the ''Vaticanus'', ''[[Sinaiticus]]'' and ''[[Alexandrinus]]'' and presents a critical framework with variants from these and several other sources.<ref name=Rahlfs1935>Rahlfs, A. (ed.). (1935/1979). ''Septuaginta.'' Stuttgart: [[Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft]].</ref>
* The [[Göttingen Septuagint]] ''(Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum)'', a critical version in multiple volumes published from 1931 to the present, is not yet complete; the largest missing parts are the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles), Proverbs and Song of Songs, as well as a new edition of Psalms. Its two critical apparatuses present variant readings in the Old Greek text and variants of the other Greek recensions (i.e., the Hexapla, Theodotion, Symmachus, Aquilla, Lucian).<ref name=IOSCSeditions>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/editions.html |title=Critical Editions of Septuagint/Old Greek Texts |website=IOSCS |publisher=U Penn}}</ref>
* In 2006, a [[Revision of Alfred Rahlfs' Septuaginta|revision of Alfred Rahlfs' ''Septuaginta'']] was published by the [[Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft|German Bible Society]]. This revised edition includes over a thousand changes.<ref name=scholarly>{{cite web |url=http://www.scholarly-bibles.com/products/Original-Texts/Old-Testament/Greek/Septuaginta.html |title=Septuaginta |website=Scholarly Bibles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412170412/http://www.scholarly-bibles.com/products/Original-Texts/Old-Testament/Greek/Septuaginta.html |archive-date=12 April 2010}}</ref> The text of this revised edition contains changes in the diacritics, and only two wording changes: in Isaiah 5:17 and 53:2, Is 5:17 ''ἀπειλημμένων'' became ''ἀπηλειμμένων'', and Is 53:2 ''ἀνηγγείλαμεν'' became by conjecture ''ἀνέτειλε μένà''.<ref name=Bady>{{Cite web |url=https://biblindex.hypotheses.org/557 |title=Rahlfs ou Göttingen : quelle édition choisir pour Biblindex ? |last=Bady |first=Guillaume |website=Biblindex |date=30 May 2011 |language=fr-FR |access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref>
* The ''[[Apostolic Bible Polyglot]]'' contains a Septuagint text derived primarily from the agreement of any two of the [[Complutensian Polyglot]], the [[Sixtine Septuagint|Sixtine]], and the [[Aldine Bible|Aldine]] texts.<ref name=apostolicbible>{{cite web |url=http://www.apostolicbible.com/intro.pdf |title=Introduction |website=Apostolic Bible |access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>
* ''Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition'', a 2018 reader's edition of the Septuagint<ref name=Eng2018>{{Cite magazine |last=Eng |first=Daniel K. |title=Review of "Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition," edited by Gregory R. Lanier and William A. Ross |url=https://www.academia.edu/38536304 |magazine=Ink |publisher=Tyndale House |page=17}}</ref> using the text of the 2006 revised edition of Rahlf's Septuaginta.<ref name=Rahlf>{{Cite web |url=https://lxxre.wordpress.com/2018/05/14/why-did-we-choose-rahlfs-hanhart-as-the-basis-for-this-readers-edition/ |title=Why Did We Choose Rahlfs-Hanhart as the Basis for this Reader's Edition? |date=14 May 2018 |website=Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition |language=en |access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref>

=== Onomastics ===
One of the main challenges, faced by translators during their work, emanated from the need to implement appropriate Greek forms for various [[onomastic]] terms, used in the Hebrew Bible. Most onomastic terms (toponyms, anthroponyms) of the Hebrew Bible were rendered by corresponding Greek terms that were similar in form and sounding, with some notable exceptions.{{sfn|Tov|2010|p=413–428}}

One of those exceptions was related to a specific group of onomastic terms for the region of [[Aram (region)|Aram]] and ancient [[Arameans]]. Influenced by Greek onomastic terminology, translators decided to adopt Greek custom of using "Syrian" [[labels]] as designations for Arameans, their lands and language, thus abandoning [[endonymic]] (native) terms, that were used in the Hebrew Bible. In the Greek translation, the region of [[Aram (region)|Aram]] was commonly labeled as "Syria", while Arameans were labeled as "Syrians". Such adoption and implementation of terms that were foreign ([[exonymic]]) had far-reaching influence on later terminology related to Arameans and their lands, since the same terminology was reflected in later Latin and other translations of the Septuagint, including the English translation.{{sfn|Wevers|2001|p=237-251}}{{sfn|Joosten|2008|p=93-105}}{{sfn|Joosten|2010|p=53–72}}{{sfn|Messo|2011|p=113-114}}

Reflecting on those problems, American orientalist Robert W. Rogers (d. 1930) noted in 1921: "it is most unfortunate that Syria and Syrians ever came into the English versions. It should always be Aram and the Aramaeans".{{sfn|Rogers|1921|p=139}}

=== English translations ===
The first English translation (which excluded the apocrypha) was [[Thomson's Translation|Charles Thomson's in 1808]],<ref>{{cite book |title=An American Bible: A History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777–1880 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |author=Gutjahr, Paul C. |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8047-4339-6 |pages=8-10}}</ref> which was revised and enlarged by C. A. Muses in 1954 and published by the Falcon's Wing Press.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Septuagint Bible: The Oldest Version of the Old Testament in the Translation of Charles Thomson |publisher=The Falcons Wing Press |year=1954}}</ref>

''[[The Septuagint version of the Old Testament (Brenton)|The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English]]'' was translated by Lancelot Brenton in 1854. It is the traditional translation, and most of the time since its publication it has been the only one readily available. It has also been continually in print. The translation, based on the [[Codex Vaticanus]], contains the Greek and English texts in parallel columns.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Read the Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha Free Online |url=https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/ |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Bible Study Tools |language=en}}</ref> It has an average of four footnoted, transliterated words per page, abbreviated ''Alex'' and ''GK''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

''The Complete Apostles' Bible'' (translated by Paul W. Esposito) was published in 2007. Using the Masoretic Text in the 23rd Psalm (and possibly elsewhere), it omits the apocrypha.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

[[New English Translation of the Septuagint|A New English Translation of the Septuagint and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included Under that Title]] (NETS), an academic translation based on the New Revised Standard version (in turn based on the Masoretic Text) was published by the [[International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies]] (IOSCS) in October 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-21 |title=NETS: New English Translation of the Septuagint |url=https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/ |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=ccat.sas.upenn.edu}}</ref>

The ''[[Apostolic Bible Polyglot]],'' published in 2003, features a Greek-English [[Interlinear gloss|interlinear]] Septuagint. It includes the Greek books of the [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew canon]] (without the apocrypha) and the Greek New Testament; the whole Bible is numerically coded to a new version of the [[Strong's Concordance|Strong numbering system]] created to add words not present in the original numbering by Strong. The edition is set in [[Greek diacritics|monotonic orthography]]. The version includes a [[Bible concordance]] and index.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The ''[[Orthodox Study Bible]]'', published in early 2008, features a new translation of the Septuagint based on the [[Alfred Rahlfs' edition of the Septuagint|Alfred Rahlfs' edition of the Greek text]]. Two additional major sources have been added: the 1851 Brenton translation and the [[New King James Version]] text in places where the translation matches the Hebrew Masoretic text. This edition includes the NKJV New Testament and extensive commentary from an Eastern Orthodox perspective.<ref name=orthodoxstudybible>{{cite web |url=http://orthodoxstudybible.com/ |title=Conciliar Press |website=Orthodox Study Bible |access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref>

Nicholas King completed ''The Old Testament'' in four volumes and ''The Bible''.<ref name=King2013>{{Citation |title=The Bible is published |publisher=Nicholas King |date=1 November 2013 |url=http://www.nicholas-king.co.uk/2013/11/01/the-bible-is-published/}}.</ref>

''Brenton's Septuagint, Restored Names Version'' (SRNV) has been published in two volumes. The Hebrew-names restoration, based on the Westminster Leningrad Codex, focuses on the restoration of the Divine Name and has extensive Hebrew and Greek footnotes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

''The Holy Orthodox Bible'' by Peter A. Papoutsis and ''The Old Testament According to the Seventy'' by Michael Asser are based on the Greek Septuagint text published by the Apostoliki Diakonia of the [[Church of Greece]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Holy Orthodox Bible (9 vols.) |url=https://www.logos.com/product/45332/the-holy-orthodox-bible |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=www.logos.com}}</ref>{{Further citation needed|date=March 2024}}

In 2012, Lexham Press published the ''Lexham English Septuagint'' (LES), providing a literal, readable, and transparent English edition of the Septuagint for modern readers.<ref name=Lexham36588>{{Cite web |title=The Lexham English Septuagint (LES) |url=https://www.logos.com/product/36588/the-lexham-english-septuagint |access-date=2021-04-08 |website=www.logos.com}}</ref> In 2019, Lexham Press published the ''Lexham English Septuagint,'' Second Edition (LES2), making more of an effort than the first to focus on the text as received rather than as produced. Because this approach shifts the point of reference from a diverse group to a single implied reader, the new LES exhibits more consistency than the first edition.<ref name=Lexham188040>{{Cite web |title=The Lexham English Septuagint, 2nd ed. (LES) |url=https://www.logos.com/product/188040/the-lexham-english-septuagint-2nd-ed |access-date=2021-04-08 |website=www.logos.com}}</ref> "The Lexham English Septuagint (LES), then, is the only contemporary English translation of the LXX that has been made directly from the Greek."<ref name=Lexham2019>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1125358011 |title=The Lexham English Septuagint |publisher=Lexham Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-68359-344-7 |edition=2nd |location=Bellingham, WA |pages=x |oclc=1125358011}}</ref>

== Society and journal ==

The [[International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies]] (IOSCS), a non-profit [[learned society]], promotes international research into and study of the Septuagint and related texts.<ref name=IOSCS>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/ |title=IOSCS |publisher=U Penn |access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref> The society declared 8 February 2006 International Septuagint Day, a day to promote the work on campuses and in communities.<ref name=IOSCSfeb8>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/feb8/ |title=International Septuagint Day |publisher=The International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies |access-date=30 March 2016}}</ref> The IOSCS publishes the ''Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies''.<ref name=JSCS>{{Citation |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/journal/ |title=JSCS}}.</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Bible}}
* [[Biblical apocrypha]]
* [[Biblical canon]]
* [[Book of Job in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts]]
* [[The Septuagint version of the Old Testament (Brenton)|Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint]]
* [[Deuterocanonical books]]
* [[Documentary hypothesis]] – Theory that the Torah was composed over a long period by many authors
* ''[[La Bible d'Alexandrie]]''
* [[Samareitikon]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Siegfried Kreuzer, ed. ''Introduction to the Septuagint'' (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press; 2019) 671 pages; general information on the history and transmission of the Septuagint; information on each book of the Septuagint.
* Eberhard Bons and Jan Joosten, eds. ''Septuagint Vocabulary: Pre-History, Usage, Reception'' (Society of Biblical Literature; 2011) 211 pages; studies of the language used
* W. Emery Barnes, [https://archive.org/stream/journaltheologi00unkngoog#page/n208/mode/2up ''On the Influence of Septuagint on the Peshitta''], JTS 1901, pp.&nbsp;186–197.
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LUmGZ0NiweAC&pg=PR5 |page=5 |title=Septuagint as Christian Scripture |isbn=978-0-567-08287-9 |last1=Hengel |first1=Martin |year=2004 |publisher=A&C Black}}
* {{Cite book |last=Joosten |first=Jan |chapter=The Septuagint as a Source of Information on Egyptian Aramaic in the Hellenistic Period |title=Aramaic in its Historical and Linguistic Setting |year=2008 |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |pages=93–105 |isbn=978-3-447-05787-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfVZnCV6ABcC}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Joosten |first=Jan |title=The Aramaic Background of the Seventy: Language, Culture and History |journal=Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies |year=2010 |volume=43 |pages=53–72 |url=https://www.academia.edu/33401126}}
* Andreas Juckel, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110525185517/http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/Vol8No2/HV8N2Juckel.html ''Septuaginta and Peshitta Jacob of Edessa quoting the Old Testament in Ms BL Add 17134'']  ''Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies''.
* Kreuzer, Siegfried, ''The Bible in Greek. Translation, Transmission, and Theology of the Septuagint'', Septuagint and Cognate Studies 63, Atlanta: SBL Press 2015.
* Timothy Michael Law, ''When God Spoke Greek'', Oxford University Press, 2013.
* Makrakis, Apostolos, ''Proofs of the Authenticity of the Septuagint'', trans. by D. Cummings, Chicago, Ill.: Hellenic Christian Educational Society, 1947. ''N.B''.: Published and printed with its own pagination, whether as issued separately or as included together with 2 other works of A. Makrakis in a single volume published by the same film in 1950, wherein the translator's name is identified on the common t.p. to that volume.
* {{Cite book |author-last1=Van der Meer |author-first=Michaël N. |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Shepherd |editor-last2=Joosten |editor-first2=Jan |editor-last3=Van der Meer |editor-first3=Michaël N. |chapter=The Greek and Aramaic Versions of Joshua 3–4 |title=Septuagint, Targum and Beyond: Comparing Aramaic and Greek Versions from Jewish Antiquity |year=2020 |location=Leiden-Boston |publisher=Brill |pages=58–100 |isbn=978-9004416727 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nu9DwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Messo |first=Johny |author-link=Johny Messo |title=The Origin of the Terms Syria(n) and Suryoyo: Once Again |journal=Parole de l'Orient |year=2011 |volume=36 |pages=111–125 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35435499}}
* {{Cite journal |title=The Septuagint and the Masoretic Text in the Orthodox Church(es) |journal=Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu |volume=10 |pages=30–60 |last=Mihăilă |first=Alexandru |year=2018 |doi=10.2478/ress-2018-0003 |s2cid=171863532 |doi-access=free}}
* [[Alfred Rahlfs]], [https://archive.org/stream/mitteilungendess00akaduoft#page/n9/mode/2up ''Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments, für das Septuaginta-Unternehmen''], Göttingen 1914.
* Rajak, Tessa, ''Translation and survival: the Greek Bible of the ancient Jewish Diaspora'' (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).
* {{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Robert W. |title=A Book of Old Testament Lessons for Public Reading in Churches |year=1921 |location=New York |publisher=Abingdon Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3PwOAAAAQAAJ}}
* Alison G. Salvesen and Timothy Michael Law, eds. ''The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint'' (Oxford University Press; 2021) 776 pages; {{ISBN|978-0191644009}}
* {{Cite book |author-last1=Sanders |author-first1=Paul |chapter=No Death without Sin on the New Earth: Isaiah 65:20 in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Shepherd |editor-last2=Joosten |editor-first2=Jan |editor-last3=Van der Meer |editor-first3=Michaël N. |title=Septuagint, Targum and Beyond: Comparing Aramaic and Greek Versions from Jewish Antiquity |year=2020 |location=Leiden-Boston |publisher=Brill |pages=129–140 |isbn=978-9004416727 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nu9DwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book |author-last1=Shepherd |author-first1=David J. |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Shepherd |editor-last2=Joosten |editor-first2=Jan |editor-last3=Van der Meer |editor-first3=Michaël N. |chapter=See God and Die? Job's Final Words (42:6) according to His First Aramaic and Greek Interpreters |title=Septuagint, Targum and Beyond: Comparing Aramaic and Greek Versions from Jewish Antiquity |year=2020 |location=Leiden-Boston |publisher=Brill |pages=228–248 |isbn=978-9004416727 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nu9DwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tov |first=Emanuel |author-link=Emanuel Tov |chapter=Personal Names in the Septuagint of Isaiah |title=Isaiah in Context |year=2010 |location=Leiden-Boston |publisher=Brill |pages=413–428 |isbn=978-9004191181 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duB5DwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tov |first=Emanuel |author-link=Emanuel Tov |title=The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research |year=2015 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-1-57506-367-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jQLEAAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wevers |first=John W. |chapter=Aram and Aramaean in the Septuagint |title=The World of the Aramaeans |volume=1 |year=2001 |location=Sheffield |publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |pages=237–251 |isbn=978-1-84127-158-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7WatAwAAQBAJ}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisourcelang|el|Παλαιά Διαθήκη|The complete Greek text of the modern Septuagint by Rahlfs}}'''Texts and translations'''
* [https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/default.asp Elpenor's Bilingual (Greek/English) Septuagint Old Testament] Greek text (full polytonic unicode version) and English translation side by side. Greek text as used by the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
* [https://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/grie/sept/sept.htm Titus Text Collection: Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes] (advanced research tool)
* [http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/bible/bible.asp?contents=old_testament/contents.asp&main=OldTes Septuagint published by the Church of Greece]
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/text/religion/biblical/lxxmorph/ Plain text of the whole LXX]
* [http://www.katapi.org.uk/ Bible Resource Pages] – contains Septuagint texts (with diacritics) side-by-side with English translations
* [http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~hancock/sept.zip The Septuagint in Greek] as a [[Microsoft Word]] document. Introduction and book abbreviations in Latin. Non-free [http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~hancock/antioch.htm Antioch (Vusillus Old Face, Vusillus)] TrueType font file required.
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ The New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS), electronic edition]
* [http://www.ebible.org/eng-lxx2012/index.htm LXX2012: Septuagint in American English 2012] – The Septuagint with Apocrypha, translated from Greek to English by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton and published in 1885, with some language updates by Michael Paul Johnson in 2012 (American English)

{{Books of the Bible}}
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[[Category:Septuagint]]
[[Category:Early versions of the Bible]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible versions and translations]]
[[Category:Hellenism and Christianity]]