The Septuagint is the Old Testament translated into Greek. It was translated in the year 280 BC under the request of King Ptolemy to be included into the Library of Alexandria. The High Priest who organised the translation was Eleazar, the great great grandfather of Jesus (Mathew 1:15). The entire event was recorded by Egyptian historians, and it is available to read online (see below - The Book of Aristeas).
God allowed the Hebrew manuscripts to be translated into Greek for a simple reason: Greek became the universal language. The New Testament (with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew) was recorded entirely in Greek, not Hebrew. The New Testament writers, along with Jesus, quoted almost exclusively from the Septuagint when they were reading from the Old Testament. This is known by comparing the NT quotes with the OT manuscripts. Over 90% of the quotations come from the Septuagint.
The Septuagint was used entirely by the early church for the first 400 years. It changed only when the Emperors had commissioned the Catholic Church to be the only form of Christianity (See the Edict of Thessalonica – 380 AD). Jerome was commissioned to translate the Hebrew into Latin, which became the new orthodox bible. It is important to note that the early church rejected the Hebrew because the Pharisees had tampered with it. The details of this tampering are recorded by Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr). Jerome was financed by the Pope, the Emperor, and the Jews to introduce the Hebrew manuscripts into the church. The translation is called the Latin Vulgate. Jerome was basically a spy on behalf of the enemy. Jerome confessed to Augustine that he believed that the Bible was not inspired. He believed that Peter, Paul and James had lied on several occasions (see the Letters of Jerome to Augustine). Jerome was banished from Rome for his drunkardness and being a public nuisance; but he was a great scholar.
Just as the Jehovah’s Witnesses have an inferior bible translation because they pervert the truth; so too the Church developed an inferior bible translation because the truth was perverted. The Septuagint was lost from the Western Church from that time on. In recent times, however, the Septuagint has come back into the Western Church. In the last 10 years there have been more Septuagint translations made then in the entire 2000 years prior.
A simple question arises: how is the Septuagint different to our Hebrew counterpart? Does the Septuagint hold keys to understand passages of the bible that have been sealed up until the time of the end? Did Jesus and the Apostles quote from the Septuagint so as to direct us to this knowledge? Can we simply disregard the Septuagint when Jesus and the Apostles endorsed it as being inspired? If we are not to trust or use the Septuagint, were Jesus and the Apostles wrong for recommending it for Christian use?
I want to explore these questions that began in a different post where Westcott and Hort were challenged. Below are some links to read more about this topic if you would like to become more acquainted with the subject.
An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek (Henry Barclay Swete)
http://christianbookshelf.org/swete/an_introduction_to_the_old_testament_in_greek_additional_notes/index.html
The Epistle of Aristeas
http://www.ccel.org/...ig/aristeas.htm
The Septuagint Online
http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/
Please add any comments or questions. I will post some verses which show how the New Testament quoted from the Septuagint. This topic is largely unknown to the majority of Christians at this time; yet there is an explosion of knowledge coming available for all who would choose to see.
God Bless
Steve
God allowed the Hebrew manuscripts to be translated into Greek for a simple reason: Greek became the universal language. The New Testament (with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew) was recorded entirely in Greek, not Hebrew. The New Testament writers, along with Jesus, quoted almost exclusively from the Septuagint when they were reading from the Old Testament. This is known by comparing the NT quotes with the OT manuscripts. Over 90% of the quotations come from the Septuagint.
The Septuagint was used entirely by the early church for the first 400 years. It changed only when the Emperors had commissioned the Catholic Church to be the only form of Christianity (See the Edict of Thessalonica – 380 AD). Jerome was commissioned to translate the Hebrew into Latin, which became the new orthodox bible. It is important to note that the early church rejected the Hebrew because the Pharisees had tampered with it. The details of this tampering are recorded by Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr). Jerome was financed by the Pope, the Emperor, and the Jews to introduce the Hebrew manuscripts into the church. The translation is called the Latin Vulgate. Jerome was basically a spy on behalf of the enemy. Jerome confessed to Augustine that he believed that the Bible was not inspired. He believed that Peter, Paul and James had lied on several occasions (see the Letters of Jerome to Augustine). Jerome was banished from Rome for his drunkardness and being a public nuisance; but he was a great scholar.
Just as the Jehovah’s Witnesses have an inferior bible translation because they pervert the truth; so too the Church developed an inferior bible translation because the truth was perverted. The Septuagint was lost from the Western Church from that time on. In recent times, however, the Septuagint has come back into the Western Church. In the last 10 years there have been more Septuagint translations made then in the entire 2000 years prior.
A simple question arises: how is the Septuagint different to our Hebrew counterpart? Does the Septuagint hold keys to understand passages of the bible that have been sealed up until the time of the end? Did Jesus and the Apostles quote from the Septuagint so as to direct us to this knowledge? Can we simply disregard the Septuagint when Jesus and the Apostles endorsed it as being inspired? If we are not to trust or use the Septuagint, were Jesus and the Apostles wrong for recommending it for Christian use?
I want to explore these questions that began in a different post where Westcott and Hort were challenged. Below are some links to read more about this topic if you would like to become more acquainted with the subject.
An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek (Henry Barclay Swete)
http://christianbookshelf.org/swete/an_introduction_to_the_old_testament_in_greek_additional_notes/index.html
The Epistle of Aristeas
http://www.ccel.org/...ig/aristeas.htm
The Septuagint Online
http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/
Please add any comments or questions. I will post some verses which show how the New Testament quoted from the Septuagint. This topic is largely unknown to the majority of Christians at this time; yet there is an explosion of knowledge coming available for all who would choose to see.
God Bless
Steve