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Evidence ID: BIB-EV92
Evidence: Greek Septuagint
Summary: The Greek Septuagint is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Old Testament texts written in Hebrew. The oldest manuscripts of the Septuagint are contained in the Codex Vaticanus from the 4th century AD. Scholars are in general agreement that the Septuagint provides a reasonably accurate record of the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Description: The Greek Septuagint is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Old Testament texts written in Hebrew [REF-SEP01] [REF-SEP02] [REF-SEP03]. The king of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, asked seventy-two Jewish scholars to translate the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek for inclusion into the Library of Alexandria. Greek was spoken by Egyptians. Thus, the name Septuaginta.
The first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Torah or Pentateuch, were translated from Hebrew to Greek in the 3rd century BC. The remaining books of the Old Testament were translated in the 2nd century BC.
The oldest manuscripts of the Septuagint include fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Rahlfs nos. 801, 819, and 957), and fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the Minor Prophets (Alfred Rahlfs nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). Relatively complete manuscripts of the Septuagint are included in the Codex Vaticanus from the 4th century (340 AD) and the Codex Alexandrinus of the 5th century (450 AD).
A comparison of the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text is subject to the semantic nuances of translation from Hebrew to Greek [REF-SEP01]. Scholars are in general agreement that the Septuagint provides a reasonably accurate record of the Masoretic Text.
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