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How the Bible came to be
The Septuagint
Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible · Alexandria, from the 3rd century BC · abbreviated LXX
The Septuagint is the oldest known translation of the Hebrew Bible, made into Greek for Jews of Egypt and other lands who no longer understood Hebrew. Its name, Latin for “seventy” and written LXX, comes from a story in the Letter of Aristeas, written about 150–100 BC: King Ptolemy II of Egypt wanted the Law for his library in Alexandria, and 72 elders, six from each tribe, translated it in 72 days. Historians take this as legend; the five books of Moses were probably translated in the third century BC, the other books by many hands later.
In places the Greek follows a Hebrew text unlike the Masoretic Text: its Jeremiah is about one-eighth shorter, with the chapters in another order, and Dead Sea Scrolls of Jeremiah show both forms. By one view such differences come from the translators, by another from a different Hebrew original. The Septuagint also contains books not in the Hebrew Bible, found today in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles. It was the Old Testament of the Greek-speaking early church, and most New Testament quotations follow it: Hebrews quotes Psalm 40 as “a body You prepared for Me”, where the Hebrew reads “my ears You have opened”.
Key verses
In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Bible*, Versions of the (Ancient): Earliest Versions of the Old Testament; Bible*, Manuscripts and Text of the (Old Testament): The Septuagint (LXX); Bible*, Manuscripts and Text of the (Old Testament): Important Dead Sea Scroll Manuscripts
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
