The Origin and Value of the Septuagint
some thoughts on the Greek Old Testament
I’ll be publishing a series of short essays that I put together for a friend as he is studying for his comprehensive exam for his Master’s. They include one on the Septuagint, an article on the preface to the KJV, an examination of different translation philosophies, and a short history of the English Bible before the KJV. Just a heads up: writing style will be a little different because of the nature of the work. I hope you Enjoy!
The Septuagint is “the translation of the Old Testament into Greek; read in the early church and often quoted by the New Testament writers.”1 The Septuagint is often represented by the Roman numerals LXX due to the number of translators who originally translated the Law of Moses into Greek (70 or 72). When Alexander the Great conquered the world, Greek culture and language spread throughout his kingdom. Even after the “bronze kingdom” of Daniel 2 fell, many Jewish people remained in Greek-speaking areas such as Alexandria, Egypt. The hellenization of the diaspora necessitated an Old Testament translation into Greek.
In the Letter of Aristeas, the author states that these seventy-two translators, six from every tribe, completed the translation of the Torah in seventy-two days, suggesting that the number of the days corresponding to the number of translators was "by some deliberate design.”2 Philo appears to have also claimed that the translation of the Septuagint came by inspiration, but it’s possible he was simply showing appreciation for their dedication to clarity instead of making claims of inspiration. He wrote, “…they became as it were possessed, and, under inspiration, wrote, not each several scribe something different, but the same word for word, as though dictated to each by an invisible prompter.”3 He went on to say that this was quite remarkable because, like English, one can convey the same idea in Greek through the use of various synonyms.
Thanks to its clarity and precision, the Septuagint is an invaluable resource for the Bible student wishing to delve into the relationship between words in the Greek New Testament and the Hebrew Bible. Through comparing the Greek translations of Hebrew words in the LXX with the use of the same words in the New Testament, one is able to come to a more precise understanding of how the Hebrew writers of the New Testament may have intended the Greek words they employed to be understood. That is, one can better interpret the New Testament by considering the correlation between the Hebrew and Greek words via the LXX than they can through evaluating the use of these same Greek words according to their common use in the pagan world. Tim McLay wrote, “Greek versions were employed with equal authority to the Hebrew Bible in the early Church. Consequently, the LXX had an enormous impact on the language and theology of the early Church.”4
But the LXX is valuable for reasons other than deeper New Testament study. For the early Christians, the LXX was an apologetic tool and their preferred version of the Old Testament, as evidenced by its use in the Testament. For modern Christians, the LXX serves as an apologetic tool as well due to its importance in textual criticism. By comparing the LXX with the Masoretic text, scholars are able to affirm the consistency of the transmission of the Hebrew Bible over the years. Thanks to the work of these seventy-two men in Alexandria, we can know more about our New Testaments, have even more confidence in the Hebrew Bible, and marvel at the providential work of God in preserving Scripture for us so that we might come to further know God’s Son.
Johnston, J. William. “Septuagint.” Ed. John D. Barry et al. The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag. Print.
Charlesworth, James H. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament: Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom, and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works. Vol. 2. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1985. Print.
Philo. Philo. Trans. F. H. Colson, G. H. Whitaker, and J. W. Earp. Vol. 6. London; England; Cambridge, MA: William Heinemann Ltd; Harvard University Press, 1929–1962. Print. The Loeb Classical Library.
McLay, Tim. “Septuagint.” Ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck. Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible 2000: 1185. Print.