Seek Yahweh: What About the Septuagint?

Seek Yahweh:

What About the Septuagint?

by Rev. John Cortright

The Septuagint was the first Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. According to most sources, it was produced by seventy-two Jewish translators in Alexandria, Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.). In the versions we have today, the name of God, YHWH, cannot be found. Rather, the name is replaced with the Greek surrogate, kurios, translated into English as "Lord." Was this part of the original Greek translation, or is this a much later alteration?

The history of the original translation is "embellished with various fables."1 In his introduction to the translation of the Greek Septuagint, Sir Lancelot Brenton states, "We need not wonder that but little is known with accuracy on this subject; for, with regard to the ancient versions of scriptures in general, we possess no information whatever as to the time or place of the execution, or by whom they were made."2 Most historians rely on the letter of Aristeas as to the story behind the Septuagint. Scholars have debated the veracity of this letter, as versions of Aristeas include seemingly miraculous events. Some have suggested these embellishments were added to give the

Septuagint credibility. Although the letter of Aristeas may contain exaggerations, there is enough evidence to verify that a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible was produced in Alexandria, Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy. Both the first century Jewish philosopher, Philo (On Moses 2.25-44), and historian, Josephus (Antiquity of the Jews 12.12-118) tell a story similar to Aristeas in describing this event.

A Greek version of the Hebrew Bible would have been important to Jews of the dispersion. For hundreds of years, they had been displaced throughout the known world. On Pentecost, Jews living in Jerusalem had come from "every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5). They heard tongues from these nations "to which (they) were born" (Acts 2:8). Due to the conquest of Alexander the Great and his campaign to Hellenize the known world, the Greek language had become the lingua franca of the Roman Empire. In his book, An Introduction to the Greek Old Testament, Henry Barclay Swete writes, "At Alexandra and in Egypt the Alexandrian version [the Septuagint] was regarded, as Philo plainly says, with a reverence scarcely less than that which belonged to the original...The feeling was shared by the rest of the Hellenistic world. In Palestine indeed the version seems to have been received with less enthusiasm, and whether it was used in the synagogues is still uncertain. But elsewhere its acceptance by Greek-speaking Jews was universal...."3 Hebrew was used in the land of Israel as witnessed from New Testament records (Jo 19:19-20;

Ac 19:40; 20:1-2). It is likely that the Hebrew Bible was used by the Jews in Israel. However, for Jews of the Diaspora, Greek would have been a welcomed translation. (Aramaic Targums were probably important texts for Jews living in Syria, Babylon, and Persia.)

The fact that a Greek Old Testament was used in the first century is not in question. What is uncertain is whether the Name was present in this translation. Did the Jews at Alexandria replace God's name with a Greek surrogate kurios? From the few extant Greek manuscripts dated earlier than 100 AD, there is not one instance where the word kurios is used to replace the Name. Rather, in the majority of these early Greek fragments, the name of God is written in Paleo Hebrew Script, while the rest of the text is in Greek. (See article in July/August 2012 issue of Glad Tidings titled "The Tetragrammaton in the First Century," pg 4-5.)

The modern translations of the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX) are not from 200 BC, 100 BC, or even 100 AD. Rather, what scholars refer to as the "Septuagint," come from 4th century texts. A history of its transmission reveals many centuries of changes and recensions.

Towards the end of the first century, Judaism and Christianity were becoming increasingly separated. Even during Paul's lifetime, this relationship was

strained. The circumcision were continually persecuting Paul's ministry. When Paul traveled to Jerusalem on his final journey (around 58-64AD), thousands of Jews believed, but they were zealous for the law (Acts 21:20). By the end of Paul's lifetime, all Asia Minor had turned away from him (2 Tim 1:15). After the death of the original apostles, the separation between Jews and Christians continued. The Greek Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, became the Old Testament for the Christian church. However, Jews soon despised and rejected this translation. Many Greek versions by Christians began to emerge over the next century. Noted scholar Bruce Metzger makes the following observation:

"By the end of the first century of the Christian era, more and more Jews ceased using the Septuagint because the early Christians had adopted it as their own translation. At an early stage, the belief developed that this translation had been divinely inspired, and hence the way was open for several church fathers to claim that the Septuagint presented the words of God more accurately than the Hebrew Bible. The fact that after the first century very, very few Christians had any knowledge of the Hebrew language meant that the Septuagint was not only the church's main source of the Old Testament but was, in fact, its only source."4

For the next century, various copies of the Septuagint made by hand "would soon come to differ among themselves."5 These handwritten, second century copies were being made by Christians, not Jews. By the late second century, three popular versions of these Greek Old Testaments were in circulation. These three versions were produced by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. In the third century, Origen produced his famous Hexapla in an attempt to purify the Septuagint. This handwritten manuscript of the Old Testament was like a modern day parallel Bible and consisted of six narrow columns ? (1) Hebrew text; (2) Hebrew text transliterated in Greek; (3) Aquila's version; (4) Symmachus' version; (5) Septuagint version with Origen's notations; (6) Theodotion's version. This massive undertaking was completed sometime between 235-245AD. There are no extant copies of the Hexapla, but descriptions by various church fathers confirm its existence. "Near the beginning of the fourth century, the idea occurred to Pamphilus and his friend Eusebius to publish copies of the fifth column, for they believed that Origen had succeeded in restoring the Old Greek version to its primitive purity."6 This became the standard text known as the Greek Septuagint. Since the fourth century, there have been no major recensions to this version.7

In most Greek manuscripts from the second century and later, the name of God is not present. Rather, a "nomina sacra" form of the Greek word kurios is used in

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download