Greek Septuagint

Greek Septuagint
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Name	Septuagint
Original title	ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα
Other names	LXX
Period	Hellenistic period
Place	Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt
Language	Koine Greek
Script	Greek alphabet
Genre	Biblical translation, Scriptural corpus

Greek Septuagint

The Greek Septuagint is the ancient Koine Greek translation and compilation of the Hebrew Bible and related texts produced in Hellenistic Alexandria and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. It functioned as a primary Scripture for Greek-speaking Jews and early Christians, intersecting with institutions and persons such as the Library of Alexandria, the Ptolemaic dynasty, Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, Origen, and Jerome. Its formation, transmission, and reception influenced the milieu of Second Temple Judaism, the development of Christianity, and textual traditions preserved in manuscripts like the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

History and Origins

Ancient accounts attribute the genesis to translators commissioned under the reign of the Ptolemy II Philadelphus at the request of the Library of Alexandria or the Brucheion, narratives preserved by Aristeas the Exegete, Philo, and Josephus. The project likely unfolded in phases: early translations of the Torah attributed by tradition to seventy-two elders, followed by later Greek renderings of the Nevi'im and Ketuvim across Jewish centers in Alexandria, Sepphoris, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Interactions with Hellenistic culture, the patronage networks of the Ptolemaic dynasty and shifts under the Seleucid Empire facilitated diffusion. Debates over dating involve scholars such as Martin Hengel, Emanuel Tov, and Sidnie White Crawford who situate core activity between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE and beyond into the 1st century CE.

Textual Transmission and Manuscripts

Manuscript evidence for the corpus survives in papyri, parchment codices, and quotations in patristic writings. Major uncials—Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Sinaiticus (א), and Codex Alexandrinus (A)—exhibit variant canons and textual families. Papyri such as the Chester Beatty Papyri and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri preserve fragments of Psalms, Isaiah, and other books; the Dead Sea Scrolls provide Hebrew witnesses that inform Septuagint recension studies undertaken by Emmanuel Tov and Francis I. Andersen. Text-types include African, Hesychian, and Lucianic recensions, with editorial interventions attributed to figures like Lucian of Antioch and polemical revisions noted by Aquila of Sinope and Symmachus the Ebionite. Early Christian authors—Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius of Alexandria—cite and sometimes harmonize readings, contributing to the manuscript tradition and canonical shape.

Language and Translation Technique

Composed in Koine Greek, the translation range spans literal renderings of the Hebrew text to freer paraphrase and interpretive expansion. Linguistic features reflect influences from Hellenistic Greek, Semitic substrate interference, and localized dialectal usage seen alongside Greek of Philo and Josephus. Techniques vary: some books show formal equivalence strategies comparable to Aquila of Sinope's literalism, while others employ dynamic equivalence with interpretive glosses akin to later Theodotion. Translational phenomena include Hebraisms, reordering of clauses, semantic shifts, and explicitation of implicit Hebrew elements, affecting later theological interpretation in works by Paul of Tarsus, Justin Martyr, and Origen.

Canonical Content and Differences from the Masoretic Text

The corpus contains books corresponding to the Torah, many of the Prophets, the Writings, and additional works classified as deuterocanonical or apocryphal—e.g., Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, and additions to Daniel and Esther. Compared with the medieval Masoretic Text transmitted by Masoretes in medieval Tiberias, the Greek witnesses often preserve alternate readings, longer or shorter versions (notably 1 Samuel/1 Kingdoms variants), and different book orderings as seen in the Hexapla of Origen and in Athanasius's Festal Letter lists. Textual divergences impact exegesis for passages cited in the New Testament and contested in patristic controversies involving Arius and Athanasius.

Reception and Use in Judaism and Christianity

Within Hellenistic Judaism, the corpus served liturgical and exegetical purposes among communities in Alexandria, Odesa, Syria, and Judea; figures like Philo relied on it for allegorical interpretation. Early Christians adopted the Greek corpus as authoritative Scripture, quoting it extensively in writings of Paul of Tarsus, the Evangelists, and the Church Fathers. Ecclesial councils and leaders such as Jerome, Augustine of Hippo, and regional synods debated the status of deuterocanonical books. The corpus influenced patristic theology, Christological debates, and the formation of canonical lists in Antioch, Rome, and Alexandria.

Modern Critical Editions and Scholarship

Modern scholarship produces critical editions reflecting comparative Hebrew, Greek, and Latin evidence. Landmark projects include the critical edition by Rahlfs (Rahlfs' Septuagint), the Göttingen Septuagint series, and the Brenton translation history; textual critics such as Paul Kahle, Alfred Rahlfs, Sidney Jellicoe, and Emanuel Tov have advanced methodology integrating the Dead Sea Scrolls and patristic citations. Ongoing work in digital humanities—initiatives at Cambridge University, Oxford University, and the Institute for New Testament Textual Research—produces annotated editions, morphological analyses, and synoptic tools. Current debates concern recension layers, Vorlage reconstruction, canonical development, and the Septuagint's role in biblical theology, engaging scholars across Jewish Studies, Patristics, and Textual Criticism.

Category:Ancient Greek translations Category:Biblical manuscripts Category:Hellenistic Judaism