SeptuagintEdit
The Septuagint, often abbreviated LXX, is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures and a cornerstone of biblical history in the Greco-Roman world. Commissioned in the late 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE, most scholars place its production in the multicultural milieu of Alexandria. It served Greek-speaking Jews who retained their religious identity while living far from the land of Israel, and it later became a foundational text for the New Testament era and early Christian communities across the Mediterranean. The LXX is not a single uniform text; it reflects a living tradition that circulated in various forms and included books and additions that are not part of the later Hebrew canon.
In the broad scholarly and theological tradition, the Septuagint is more than a translation. It is a historical archive of how scripture was interpreted, taught, and witnessed to by communities in the diaspora. Its translations reveal how ancient readers encountered Pentateuch, Historical Books, and the prophets in a language accessible to people who spoke Greek as their primary tongue. Its influence extends beyond Judaism into the early Christian Church, where it was prominent in preaching, liturgy, and theology.
Origins and transmission
The traditional story tied to the LXX, with medieval embellishments, recounts that a council of seventy-two translators produced a version so identical that the result became a symbol of divine agreement. In modern scholarship, the essential point is that Jewish communities in the Diaspora sought a Greek rendering of their scriptures to meet liturgical needs and to engage with Greek-speaking society. The result was a translation project rooted in Hebrew Bible texts but shaped by the linguistic and cultural pressures of a Hellenistic world. The term “Septuagint” derives from the Roman tradition that counted seventy translators, though the texts themselves likely arose through multiple stages and centers of transmission.
The LXX circulated widely in antiquity. It interacted with other textual traditions, including early Aramaic and Latin translations, and it stood alongside the Masoretic Text of Hebrew scriptures as a witness to biblical interpretation before later standardizations. For many communities, the LXX was the Bible of worship, education, and doctrine. Church Fathers often treated it as authoritative when developing Christian interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures, and it played a central role in the way early Christians read passages about the Messiah and the fulfillment of prophecy.
Contents and canonical status
The Septuagint includes most of the books found in the Hebrew Bible, but it also contains sections and entire books that are not part of the later canonical Hebrew canon. Some of these additional or differently ordered books are now labeled deuterocanonical by Catholic and Orthodox traditions. In Protestant circles, these books are typically placed in a separate section called the Apocrypha, or are omitted from the Old Testament canon altogether. Notable examples include Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, and 1–2 Maccabees. In some parts of the LXX, the books of Esther, Daniel, and others also include additions not present in most Hebrew manuscripts.
Because the LXX was produced in a context where Greek-speaking Jews still honored the law and the prophets, its contents reflect a broader sacred library that accommodated religious instruction and devotional needs in a diaspora setting. For this reason, the LXX has often served as the default biblical text in early Christian communities, especially among those who spoke Greek and who encountered the New Testament within a framework already shaped by this Greek canon.
In relation to the canon in different traditions, the LXX has had a clarifying impact. Catholic and Orthodox Canon traditionally regard the deuterocanonical books as part of the inspired scriptures, while many Protestant traditions adopt the Hebrew canon as their Old Testament and treat those books as useful but non-canonical. The divergent receptions of the LXX reflect broader questions about which texts were regarded as authoritative in ancient worship and teaching, and when and how such authority was recognized in distinct religious communities.
Textual characteristics and translation technique
The Septuagint is a translation that often preserves distinctive interpretive choices. In places, the translators render Hebrew terms and concepts into Greek in ways that disclose theological themes and pastoral concerns of their audience. The translation sometimes reflects interpretive expansions, harmonizations, and clarifications that align text with Greek rhetorical and doctrinal norms. This has made the LXX valuable for scholars trying to understand how ancient interpreters read and taught the Hebrew Bible in a multilingual world.
Scholars distinguish several textual families within the LXX, because not all extant manuscripts agree with one another. In some instances, readings in the LXX diverge from the Masoretic Text, the later standard Hebrew manuscript tradition, which itself was shaped in a different historical and liturgical setting. These differences are a central area of study in biblical textual criticism, as they illuminate how communities understood passages about key events, laws, prophecies, and messianic expectations.
The LXX also preserves textual forms that later disappeared from the Hebrew tradition but remained part of the scriptural memory in the Jewish diaspora and early Christian communities. To modern readers and scholars, these variations offer a window into ancient exegesis and the process by which sacred texts circulated, were interpreted, and were transmitted across generations and geographies.
Reception and influence
The Septuagint’s influence on Christianity is profound. The early church frequently cited the LXX when teaching about Jesus as the fulfillment of prophetic writings, and many New Testament quotations align more closely with the LXX wording than with the Hebrew texts preserved in the Masoretic tradition. This linguistic and interpretive bridge helped Christianity engage with a Greco-Roman audience and provided a familiar scriptural vocabulary for early Christian apologetics and evangelism. The LXX thus contributed to shaping Christian theology, liturgy, and hymnody in ways that endured for centuries.
Within the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church, the Septuagint is still a foundational text for the Old Testament. In these traditions, the deuterocanonical books are regarded as authoritative scripture, and their inclusion in the canon supports doctrinal themes—from wisdom literature to historical narratives—that were central to early Christian thought. In contrast, most Protestant traditions base their Old Testament on the Hebrew canon, resulting in a different set of scriptures and, accordingly, a different emphasis in doctrinal interpretation.
In Judaism, the LXX was historically a crucial bridge to the Greek-speaking world, but its status as a scriptural authority within Judaism waned as rabbinic authorities solidified the Hebrew canon and as Hebrew textual studies grew more influential. Nonetheless, the LXX remains an indispensable resource for understanding how biblical texts were encountered, read, and taught in antiquity, and it continues to influence biblical studies and interfaith dialogue.
Controversies and debates
Several longstanding debates surround the Septuagint. One central issue concerns the canonicity and authority of its contents. The presence of deuterocanonical books in the LXX, and their status in Catholic and Orthodox traditions, has been a point of contention in Protestant reformational history, where a Hebrew-based canon is often prioritized. Proponents of the traditional canon argue that the early church’s usage demonstrated divine endorsement of these books, while critics argue that later canon lists and councils reflected evolving religious authorities rather than a uniform ancient consensus.
Another area of debate concerns textual reliability and the relationship between the LXX and the Masoretic Text. Because the LXX sometimes preserves older or differently formed readings, some scholars view it as a crucial witness to an earlier form of biblical text. Others emphasize the likelihood that the LXX reflects translators’ interpretive decisions and variant Vorlage material, not a single original wording. The tension between preserving ancient meanings and acknowledging later interpretive expansions is a central theme in biblical textual criticism.
From a traditionalist or conservative perspective, the Septuagint is valued as a faithful witness to early Jewish interpretation and as a means by which the gospel could reach diverse audiences. Critics, including some modern textual critics, might argue that reliance on the LXX in shaping doctrine risks reading later interpretations back into the Hebrew Bible. Supporters contend that both texts illuminate different facets of scripture and that their coexistence in antiquity demonstrates the dynamic, living nature of sacred literature.
Modern scholarship and editions
In the modern era, scholars have compiled critical editions of the Septuagint to aid study and translation. The most widely used scholarly edition is the Rahlfs edition, with subsequent updates such as the Rahlfs-Hanhart edition, which aim to collate manuscripts and provide a stable basis for scholarly work and translation projects. Translations and reference works draw heavily on these editions, along with manuscript citations from Greek witnesses and ancient translations into other languages.
Several modern English translations and scholarly projects present the LXX alongside the Hebrew Bible or in parallel with deuterocanonical books. Notable resources include efforts like the New English Translation of the Septuagint, which provides an English rendering of the Septuagint accessible to scholars and readers alike, and various critical apparatuses that compare LXX readings with the Masoretic Text and other textual witnesses. These tools help illuminate how ancient readers understood the same passages in different linguistic and cultural settings.
The Septuagint also informs studies of biblical prophecy and Messianic expectations in the ancient world, offering a different vantage point on key passages that later Christian traditions interpreted in light of the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth. Its influence persists in patristic writings, liturgical practice, and ecumenical dialogue, reflecting a long-standing interplay between scripture, language, and faith.