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The Septuagint

The Septuagint marks a historic turning point in the annals of the Jewish people. It is the first translation of the Torah (and subsequently the entire Hebrew Bible) from Hebrew into Greek, as well as the earliest known translation of the Scriptures into any language. According to prevailing tradition, the translation was produced in the 3rd century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt—the vibrant epicenter of Hellenistic Diaspora Jewry.


According to the legend recounted in the Letter of Aristeas and later in the Talmud, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt (which then governed the Land of Israel as well), wished to include the laws of the Jews in the Great Library of Alexandria. To this end, he assembled 72 Jewish scholars, housed them in 72 separate chambers, and requested that each translate the Torah into Greek. Miraculously, all the translations were identical—including, according to tradition, identical intentional alterations in specific verses aimed at avoiding theological misunderstandings by the non-Jewish king. The number 72 was rounded to 70, giving rise to the name "Septuagint" (Latin for "seventy").


Modern scholarship regards the Letter of Aristeas as a literary work written roughly a century after the events it describes, intended to legitimize the translation rather than serve as a strict historical account of its creation. Today, most scholars agree that the translation was not commissioned by the Ptolemaic court for the Library of Alexandria, but rather arose organically "from within"—initiated by the Jewish community of Alexandria itself, which was gradually losing fluency in Hebrew. The primary motivation was likely religious and educational: providing access to the Torah in everyday language for synagogue readings and study. There may also have been a legal-administrative need, as the Torah served as the binding law governing the Jewish community before the Ptolemaic authorities.


The early Christian Church inherited the Septuagint from Hellenistic Judaism because it was the accessible scripture for Greek-speaking communities. The authors of the New Testament quoted from it and referred to it as "Scripture." Its continuous use in preaching, prayer, liturgy, and messianic interpretation established its practical authority as early as the 1st century CE, and by the 2nd century, Church Fathers argued that its translation was divinely inspired.


To this day, the Septuagint remains a vital research tool, reflecting a very early textual tradition of the Bible—one that occasionally differs from the Masoretic Text used today—and offering insight into the linguistics of Jewish communities in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora during the Hellenistic period.


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Ptolemy II conversing with some of the scholars who translated the Bible. Painting by Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (1672), currently displayed at the Palace of Versailles. Credit: Jean Baptiste de Champaigne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Ptolemy II conversing with some of the scholars who translated the Bible. Painting by Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (1672), currently displayed at the Palace of Versailles. Credit: Jean Baptiste de Champaigne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons


Fragment of the Septuagint (325–350 CE), the basis for Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and English translation. Codex Vaticanus (Gregory-Aland no. B or 03). Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Fragment of the Septuagint (325–350 CE), the basis for Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and English translation. Codex Vaticanus (Gregory-Aland no. B or 03). Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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