Septuagint

SEPTUAGINT, or Seventy Interpreters. By this Name are generally understood the Seventy, or rather Seventy-two Interpreters, who, according to the prevailing Opinion, translated from Hebrew into Greek the Books of the Old Testament, or at least the Pentateuch, if we will believe St. Jerome, and several other Criticks. Here is the History of this Hieronym. in Ezech. c. 5. & in Mich. ii.Translation, as Aristæus relates it. Demetrius Phalareus, Librarian to King Ptolemy Philadelphus, having used his utmost Industry to collect a vast Number of Books in the Library at Alexandria; King Philadelphus asked him one Day, how many Books he had already? Demetrius answered, that he had Two hundred thousand, and hoped in a short time to have Five hundred thousand; For, says he, I have been informed, that the Laws of the Jews deserve well to have a Place here, but they ought to be first translated out of Hebrew into Greek. The King replied, he would write to the High-Priest of the Jews about it.

Then Aristæus, Author of this Narration, who was then present, and who had the Honour of being of the Life-Guard to this Prince, thought of a Matter that he had had a good while in his Mind, and which he had communicated to Sosibius of Tarentum, and to Andreas, two of his Friends, that were chief Officers in the King’s Guards; which Matter was, to procure the Liberty of a great Number of Jews, whom King Ptolemy, Son of Lagus, and Father of Ptolemy Philadelphus, had formerly brought Captive into Egypt, when he made War in Syria and Phenicia. Aristæus, Sosibius, and Andreas took therefore this Opportunity to tell the King, that since he desired to have a Translation of the sacred Books of the Jews, it would become his Liberality and Magnificence, to free from Servitude a great Number of Jews that were in his Territories, that the whole Nation being obliged by this Favour, might the more readily send him the Books that he desired.

The King then asking, how many these Captives might be, it was answered, about One hundred thousand. This large Number did not discourage Philadelphus, and he promised to set them at Liberty. At the same time he gave Orders, that twenty Drachma’s a Head should be distributed to all those that had Jewish Slaves, who were forthwith to be made Free. And he published an Edict in their Favour, in which he restored to Liberty, not only all the Jews that his Father or himself had brought into Egypt, but likewise all others that might happen to be in Servitude there, upon any Account whatever. The King’s Expence on this Occasion was above Six hundred Talents, which in our Money is 136,875 l. Sterling, taking the Talent to be the Egyptian, Attick, or Eubœan Talent of Silver, of 228 ⅛ Pound.

After this Philadelphus wrote to the High-Priest Eleazar, to desire him to send him¹ the Books of the Law, together with Translators capable to render them out of Hebrew into Greek. This Letter was carried by Ambassadors, who had rich Presents with them; and Andreas and Aristæas were of the Number of those whom the King sent to Jerusalem on this Occasion. Eleazar complied with the King’s Request without any Hesitation, and sent him the Book of the Law, together with Seventy-two Jews, who were skilful in the Greek and Hebrew Tongues, that they might translate those sacred Books. At the same time he wrote to the King, to give him Thanks for his rich Presents, to commend his Piety towards God, and the Generosity he had shewed to the Jews that were in his Dominions.

Philadelphus received Eleazar’s Commissioners with great Humanity, expressed a great Respect for the holy Books they had brought, worshipped them, and bowed himself before them for seven times together, admired the Beauty of the Vellum, and the writing in golden Letters, as also the Variety of the Colours and Embellishments of the Leaves. He assured these Deputies, that he should always look upon the Day of their Arrival as a Festival Day. And as this Day fell upon the same on which this Prince had overcome Antigonus in a Sea-fight, he did them the Honour of making them eat with him. At Dinner he put several Questions to them, to which they returned Answers intirely to his Satisfaction. And the King was so pleased with their Conversation, that he treated them for seven Days together, that he might hear them all one after another.

Three Days after this, Demetrius Phalereus took these Seventy-two Hebrews, and conducted them into the Isle of Pharos, by a Causey seven Furlongs long; and having brought them over the Bridge, he led them into a very fine House, built at the Northern Part of the Island, upon the Sea-shore, and at a Distance from any Noise, that they might with the greater Tranquillity apply themselves to the Translation of the Holy Books. They began therefore to go about their Work, and discussing among themselves whatever Difficulties they might meet with, when they had fixed upon any thing, and brought it to a Condition of being enter’d fair, they reported it to Demetrius, who had it fairly writ down by his Copyers. They laboured thus from Morning to the ninth Hour, that is, till three Hours before Sun-set; then they returned into the City, where they were plentifully furnished with whatever Necessaries they wanted. The next Day early in the Morning they returned into the Isle of Pharos, to their Work; which they applied themselves to, as soon as they had washed their Hands, and said their Prayers. This they continued to do for Seventy, or rather Seventy-two Days together². When the Work was finished, they put it into the Hands of Demetrius, who read it in an Assembly of the Jews at Alexandria, that they might be Judges of its Agreement with the Original. They were much pleased with it, and greatly extoll’d, as well Demetrius who had procured them this Version, as the Interpreters that had made it. After which they pronounced an Anathema against any one that should make any Alteration in the Text of this Version, in any manner whatever. The King being informed of what had passed, expressed much Satisfaction at it. He had the Law of Moses read to him, and greatly admired the Wisdom of it. He asked Demetrius, why no Historian or Poet had made any mention of so divine a Work? Demetrius replied, it was out of that Respect which had always been paid to this Divine Book, that Authors had been deterred from it: That Theopompus having inserted something of it in his History, had been struck with a Disease that had deprived him of his Understanding; and that Theodotus, a Tragick Poet, endeavouring to put something of it in his Poems, had been struck with Blindness: But that each of ‘em had been miraculously cured, after having acknowledged and confessed their Fault.

Philadelphus therefore received the Work of the Interpreters with great Tokens of Veneration, and caused it to be laid up in his Library, where he ordered it to be kept with great Care. He greatly caressed the seventy Translators, invited them to come often to see him, and sent them back into Judea with ample Rewards, and rich Presents for Eleazar. This is the Substance of the History of Aristæas, which this Author addresses to his Brother Philocrates, to whom he gives an account of all this as an Eye-witness, and as Jos. Antiq. l. 12. c. 2. Philo de vit. Moni. l. 2. p. 659.one that was perfectly well informed of every Thing that passed. The same Story we read in Josephus, who has taken it out of Aristæas. Philo also speaks of the Version of the Septuagint, as having been performed by inspired Writers; but he makes no mention either of Aristæas or Demetrius Phalereus.

Justin Martyr’s Account is very different Just. Mart. Exhort. ad Græcos.from this of Aristæas. He says, that Ptolemy King of Egypt being informed, that the Jews had antient Histories written in Hebrew, he sent for seventy Men from Jerusalem, to translate these Works out of Hebrew into Greek. He had these Men put into the Isle of Pharos, into seventy different Cells, that they might study without Interruption, and without communicating with each other; so that he might be the more secure of the Faithfulness of the Translation. God himself order’d it so, that they should translate in so uniform a manner, that they did not only use the same Words, but also in the same Number. This caused in the King so great an Admiration, that he gave them great Rewards, and sent them back with Honour into their own Country. Justin adds to this, that when he was at Alexandria, they shewed him, in the Isle of Pharos, the Ruins of those Cells in which these Interpreters had been shut up.

The same Justin in his second Apology relates the Thing in another manner; he says, that Ptolemy having a Design to collect a very ample Library, wrote to Herod King of the Jews, to send him the Books of the Prophets which were in his Country. Herod sent them to him, but as these Books were written in Hebrew, Ptolemy sent again to Herod, to desire him to send some Men to him, that were able to translate them into Greek. This being done, the Books were put into the King of Egypt’s Library, where they are at present, says St. Justin, in the Iren. l. 3. contr. adv. hæres. c. 25. seu 21. nov. edit. Cyrill. Jerosol. Catech. 4. p. 36, 37. Epiph. de ponderibus & mensuris, n. 9, 10, 11.Hands of all the Jews. St. Irenæus, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Chrysostom, and St. Austin, speak also of the Seventy-two Cells of the Seventy-two Interpreters; but Epiphanius allows but Thirty-six. Thus he relates the Story;

He says, that Aristæas, in his History of the seventy Interpreters, informs us, that Ptolemy Philadelphus erected a Library at Alexandria, in the Place called Bruchium, and committed the Care of it to Demetrius Phalereus. One Day as the King was asking Demetrius how many Books he had, Demetrius answered, there were about Fifty -four thousand and Eight hundred, but that there might easily be a much greater Number, if Translations were made of such Books as were among the Ethiopians, the Indians, the Persians, the Elamites, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Romans, the Phenicians, the Syrians, and those that inhabited in Greece, says he, formerly called Latins, and not Romans. In all appearance he meant the Greeks of Italy, or of great Greece. He added, that in Judea, and at Jerusalem, there were several Divine Books written by Prophets, which might be obtained if they were desired of the Jews.

The King wrote therefore a Letter to the Jews, which is to be seen in Epiphanius, by which he desires them to send him these Books. The Jews sent him the Two and twenty Books of the Old Testament, written in Golden Letters; as also Seventy-two Apocryphal Books. But these Works being in Hebrew, the King wrote to them again, desiring them to send him Interpreters, to render them into Greek. They sent him Seventy-two chosen Men, six out of each Tribe; and in order that the Translation might be as exact as possible, and that the Interpreters might have no Communication with each other, the King caused to be built, in the Isle of Pharos, Thirty-six Cells, in each of which he shut up two Translators, that they might study together: And he allowed them Servants to attend them, and Transcribers to write down in Notes or Short-Hand, what should be dictated to ‘em. These Cells had no Windows, that no body might look within; but they had each a Sky-light. Every two Interpreters had a Book given them, and when they had translated it, it passed through the Hands of those in the next Cell, and so on, till all the Books were translated six and thirty times.

They laboured thus shut up from Morning to Evening, and at Night they were fetched away in six and thirty Boats, and brought to the Palace, where they eat with the King. Then they were put into six and thirty Chambers, where they lay by two in a Chamber. The Day following early in the Morning they were carried back in the like manner to their Cells. When the whole Work was finished, the King sate upon his Throne, and had the Work read to him. Thirty-six Readers held the Thirty-six Copies of the Translation, and a Thirty-seventh held the Hebrew Original. In confronting all these Versions, it was found, they were so perfectly alike, that what one had added or retrenched, had also been added or retrenched by every one; and that what was retrenched was really useless and superfluous. This convinced all the Assembly that the Interpreters had been inspired by the Holy Ghost. The King laid up the Translation in the Library called Bruchium, which was as the Mother of the second Library called Scrapæum.

The Talmuds of Jerusalem and Babylon say, that King Ptolemy having made the Seventy-two Elders come to him, without letting them know what he desired of them, he shut them up in Seventy-two Cells. Then he told them he would have them translate the Holy Books out of Hebrew into Greek. They complied with the King’s Desire, and with such Success, and God so happily directed them, that they all translated in the same manner. The Samaritans have also laid Claim to the Honour of this Translation; and they relate, that the King of Egypt having caused the High-Priest of the Samaritans to come to him, and also that of the Jews, with other Assistants on both Sides to translate the Holy Scriptures into Greek; the Translation of the Samaritans was preferred before that of the Jews, and laid up in the Library of Alexandria.

Philo de vit. Mos. l. 2. p. 659.Philo relates, that the Jews of Egypt were so transported upon making this Translation of the Law into Greek, that they appointed an annual Feast to perpetuate the Memory of it. They went every Year into the Isle of Pharos, accompanied by several Strangers, who came thither out of Devotion as well as themselves; and after this they refreshed themselves with Entertainments of Piety, some under Tents, others upon the Shore, and upon the Sand, being filled with Respect for a Place which had been sanctified by the Presence of the seventy Interpreters. The Hebraizing Jews, on the contrary, conceived so much Contempt and Abhorrence for this Version, that they made a Fast on the eighth Day of Thebet³, which answers to the Month of December, to shew how much they disapprove of the Liberty the Hellenistical Jews had taken in translating the Laws into a foreign and impure Language. They say, that the Day on In Massechet Sopherim.which this Translation was made, was as fatal to Israel, as that on which Jeroboam the Son of Nebat made the the golden Calves; and that then the Heavens were covered with Darkness for three Days together.

Many of the antient Fathers of the Church⁴ have had so great a Respect for this Version of the Septuagint, that they have looked upon it as infallible, and as inspired by the Holy Ghost; and St. Austin has carried this Point so far, that he thinks in those Passages where the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew, which often happens, we ought to believe that the Holy Ghost, who inspired them as well as he inspired the first Authors, conducted their Pen by a particular Providence; so that each of ‘em tell us nothing but what is absolutely certain, though sometimes they appear contrary and different from each other. Thus this holy Doctor preserves the Authority of the Septuagint, without derogating from that of the original Text. St. Hilary will have it, that in such Places where different Interpreters vary Hilar. in Ps. cxxxi. n. 24.from each other, upon any Passage of the Old Testament, we ought to adhere to the Septuagint, as the most antient Version, and which has been most authorized by the Use of the Church.

This Sentiment of the Fathers concerning the Inspiration of the Septuagint, was founded upon that surprizing Agreement which was found among the several Copies of those Interpreters, though they had no Communication with each other, having been shut up separately in Thirty-six, or in Seventy-two different Cells. But as this Fact itself is very doubtful, it could not serve as a Foundation for an Article of this Consequence. Therefore the Church has never made any Decision about the Inspiration of these Interpreters; and St. Jerome⁵ very much inveighs against the first Author that invented the Fable of the seventy Cells. He maintains, that these Interpreters conserred Hieron. in Ezech. v. & in Mich. ii.together, and assisted each other in their Translations. In a Word, that they were nothing else but mere Translators, and no Prophets. In una Basilica congregatos contulisse, non prophetasse; aliud est enim esse Vatem, aliud Interpretem. He shews there are many Faults in their Translation, and he thinks that they did not translate the whole Scripture, but only the five Books of Moses. He says, that Josephus and Philo, and the whole School of the Hebrews affirm the same; and Aristæas, who is the first Author of the Version of the Seventy, says only, that they read to the King the Books of the Law.

The greatest Part of modern Criticks undertake to shew the Falsity of what has been said, concerning the Manner by which the Version of the Septuagint was made; and it must be own’d, that their Reasons have the Appearance of Truth. They shew, First, The Diversity of Opinions that have been started in this Matter. Secondly, Aristæas, who is said to be the Author of the oldest Account we have of this Matter, does but ill support the Part he acts. He would pass for a Pagan, and yet speaks and acts as if he were a zealous Jew. Thirdly, He speaks of Ptolemy Philadelphus, as of a wise and religious Prince, full of Respect for the True God, for his Temple, and for his Scriptures; and yet it is known from History, that he was a very corrupt and wicked Prince. Fourthly, He tells us, that Demetrius Phalereus was Friend and Library-keeper to King Philadelphus; whereas it is known,⁶ that Demetrius having advised Ptolemy the Son of Lagus to exclude his Son Ptolemy Philadelphus from the Kingdom, he was so provoked at it, that when he came to the Throne, he sent Demetrius into Exile, ‘till he should determine something farther about him. But Demetrius not being able to bear the Tiresomeness of this Banishment, put himself to Death by the Bite of an Asp. Fifthly, They observe the same Stile, and that a Stile full of Hebraisms, in the whole History of the pretended Aristæas, in the Letters of Philadelphus to the High-priest Eleazar, and in those of Eleazar to the King, and in the Petition of Demetrius to the same Philadelphus. Several other Remarks are made upon the History of Aristæas, which make it much to be suspected, and give reason to judge, that it is the Work of some Jew, who has borrow’d the Name of Aristæas, the better to disguise his Forgery⁷.

But what then are we to think of the ancient Greek Version of the Bible, that we have at this Day in our Hands, and which goes under the Name of the Septuagint? ‘Tis agreed, that this must be an ancient Version, and might well have been made in the Time of Ptolemy Philadelphus; at least, the five Books of Moses, the Translation of which is more faithful and exact than that of the other Books; but we cannot know precisely, either the Time, or the Authors of it. The Translations of the other Books seem to have been done by other Hands, which are as much unknown as the former, and the Authors might live at different Times; for there is no Proof that they were by the same Pen. The Diversity of Stile, and of the Manner in which the same Word is translated, give reason to judge, they were done by several Hands. Neither can it be known, whether it proceeds from the Translators or Copiers, that so many Variations are found in the Greek Text of Scripture, from the Hebrew Original; and the Alterations that have been made in Genesis, concerning the Ages of the Patriarchs that lived before and after the Flood, as far as the Building of Babel. These Changes and Additions could not be the Effect of Chance, they are so very numerous; especially in Job, in the Proverbs, in the Great Prophets, and in the Books of Samuel and the Kings.

Gen. xxiii. 4, 6.Those that would see more at large what are the Opinions of learned Men concerning the Septuagint, may consult the Criticks who have expresly handled this Matter; as Scaliger, Usher, Walton, Frassen, M. du Pin, Vandal, Hoddy, the new Edition of Origen’s Hexapla, and several others.⁸

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