Historical facts about the Septuagint Holy Bible
The Old Testament
The old testament is made up of 70 books, 43 of which are written in Hebrew or Aramaic [39 according to the traditional classification, which counts 1 book for the Psalms instead of 5: the 1st (1 to 41), the 2nd (42 to 72), the 3rd (73 to 90), the 4th (90 to 109), the 5th (107 to 150)], and 27 of which are written in Greek. According to Aristea’s letter (2nd century B.C) the Bible known as "Septuagint" was created upon the initiative of Demetrios of Phalera, founder of the Library of Alexandria. He suggested to King Ptolemea II of Philadelphe (-285 / - 246) to request from the Great Priest of Jerusalem to gather "competent scholars and experts in their Law” to translate it into Greek. There were supposed to be 6 Jewish scholars from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, totaling 72 scholars; Flavius Joseph and various Fathers, however, seem to say there were 70 experts. From there, it is believed, came the denomination of "the Septuagint translation" (in reference to the 70 people translating it), which then became simply the Septuagint marked with the Roman numerals LXX. The Septuagint was elaborated around the 3rd century B.C., largely before the birth of Christ. Legend says that the 70 experts each translated the whole Bible separately, and that when they compared their respective work, the authors were astonished to see that all 70 translations were identical. The Septuagint is closer to the authentic version than the Masoretic text (ba'alei Masorah) (IX century AD). The Septuagint includes not only the Greek translation of the Hebraic Scriptures, but also original scripts. It is a comprehensive Biblical production differing significantly from the Hebraic texts known as “the original” texts. The Septuagint Bible in Greek is the oldest version or translation of the Hebraic texts. Its creation constitutes the first translation of the bible texts from Hebrew into another language. Since the beginning of creation until today, the Septuagint constitutes the Old Testament for Christians, especially Christians in the East. Today, the most readily-available English translation of the Septuagint is Brenton’s, edited in the 19th century.
The New Testament
The New Testament, also known as “the New Alliance” (in Greek Ή Καινὴ ∆ιαθήκη: I Keni diathiki), is the second part of the Holy Bible. It tells the story of Jesus’ life (the 4 Gospels), and the life of the first Christians (Acts of the Apostles), and includes letters for the edification of the Christian faith. From the moment it was written, the New Testament was written in Greek (κοινή: “Koine Greek”, common language in those days), which was certainly the best language for it to be written in, because it was flexible and widely understood. However, it is almost certain that Jesus did not speak Greek! (One mustn’t forget that the authors of the New Testament were relying on the Septuagint: in order to understand the meaning of a word, it was crucial to look it up in the Septuagint and to know its equivalent in Hebrew). Later in history, Greek versions were substituted by Latin ones. The New Testament is made up of 27 Scriptures accepted today by all Churches (be it Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox) as founding texts. These include: • • The four Gospels called " canonical " The Acts of the Apostles
• •
Many Epistles attributed in their major part to Saint Paul New Testament Apocacrypha according to Saint John
The order in which the Scriptures are organized in the New Testament is not chronological (according to their date of creation, which is not precisely known), but relies on a more logical progression: • • • • Teachings of Jesus, reported by four Apostles History of the early primitive Christian church Epistles, brought by the first Apostles (particularly Saint Paul) to the first Christian congregations: these letters provide teachings, advice, and enlightenment on this new religion The Apocalypse (from the Greek ἀποκάλυψις: Apocalupsis = Revelation), which is still wrongly considered by many as a prophecy of the end of times.
From then on, Christians believed that for the Bible to be called that, it needed to be constituted of both the Old Testament (Scriptures dating before Jesus) and the New Testament.
Information about the "Vulgate" Bible in Latin
At the dawn of the Christian era, Latin had become the universal language. A priest named Jeremiah (or Jerome), known both for his moral qualities and intellectual capabilities, was chosen to translate the Bible into Latin, a task which he finished in 405 AD. The resulting text was a Bible in Latin known as the Vulgate. The word “Vulgate” and the word "vulgarization" have the same Latin Roth "versio vulgata" or “common translation”, and reveal the purpose for which this language was chosen: to make the Biblical texts available for anyone to read, or at least to those who could read Latin. However, Jeremiah’s task was to translate all the Scriptures of the Septuagint Bible, particularly those that neither the Jews nor he considered as being a part of the Scriptures. Yet it was he who named these unrecognized Scriptures "Apocryphal" (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφος, which means "hidden", as in hidden from the believers in the synagogues because these were not recognized) and who warned the Vulgate readers by means of an explanatory header, which was reproduced faithfully until the Trent council 1000 years later! This council came to decide that these Scriptures were a legitimate part of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, until today, all Bible versions edited by authority of the Roman Catholic Church include additional books not taken into account in to the Old Testament text approved by the Jews and the Protestants. That is why the Old Testament of the "Septuagint” constitutes the basis and absolute reference for the Bible.
Categorization of the Septuagint texts (Old Testament) according to churches
Books and Bible parts accepted by both Jews and Christians as canonical: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 kings, 2 kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Apocrypha / Anaginoskomena / Deuterocanonical books, accepted as canonical by eastern Orthodox and (for the most part) Roman Catholics, but not recognized by Protestants and Jews: Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach / Ecclesisaticus, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, epistle (letter) of Jeremiah, "Old Greek" LXX version of Daniel, Song of the Three Holy children / Prayer of Azariah, Susanna and the Elders [Theodotion], Susanna and the Elders [Old Greek], Bel and the dragon [Theodotion], Bel and the Dragon [Old Greek], 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, The Odes, Psalms of Solomon, Psalm 151.
THE AUTHORS (according to tradition) INSPIRED BY THE BIBLE AND THEIR SCRIPTURES (chronological order):
Order 1 Author Moses Occupation Erudite, shepherd, Prophet, Guide Guide Levite, Prophet Prophets King, shepherd, musician Singer Erudite/Wise Erudite/Wise King, Builder, Erudite/Wise ~1000 Date(BC) 1473 Scriptures Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Job, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalm 90 (maybe 91) Joshua Judges, Ruth, part of 1 Samuel 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel The majority of the Psalms Some Psalms Some Psalms Psalm 88 Psalm 89 The majority of the proverbs, Song of Solomon. Ecclesiastes, Psalm 127 Proverbs 30 King Prophet Prophet Herd guardian, Prophet Prophet Prophet Prophet ~844 ~ 820 ~ 804 Aft.745 Aft.732 Bfr.717 Proverbs 31 Jonah Joel Amos Hosea Isaiah Micah
2 3 4.5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Joshua Samuel Gad & Nathan David Qorah son Asaph Hemân Ethân Solomon
~1450 ~1080 ~1040 1037
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Agour Lemouël Jonah Joel Amos Hosea Isaiah Micah
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Zephaniah Nahum Habakkuk Obadiah Ezekiel Jeremiah Daniel Haggai Zechariah Mordekaï Ezra Nehemiah Malachi Matthew Luke James (Jesus’ brother) Mark Peter Paul
Prince, Prophet Prophet Prophet Prophet Prophet Priest, Prophet Prince, Chief, Prophet Prophet Prophet Prime minister Priest, copyist, administrator Public governor Prophet Tax collector, Apostle Doctor, missioner Episcope Missioner Fisherman, Apostle Rabin, missioner, Apostle, tents manufacturer officer,
Bfr.648 Bfr.632 ~628 ~607 ~591 580 ~536 520 518 ~475 ~460 Aft.443 Aft.443 ~41 ~61 Bfr.62 ~60-65 ~64 ~65
Zephaniah Nahum Habakkuk Obadiah Ezekiel 1 & / 2 kings, Jeremiah, Lamentation Daniel Haggai Zechariah Esther 1 & / 2 Chronicles, Ezra Nehemiah Malachi Matthew Luke, Acts James Mark 1 & / 2 Peter 1 & / 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 & / 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Hebrew, 1 & / 2 Timothy, Titus. Jude Revelation, John, 1 & / 2 and 3 John.
39 40
Jude (Jesus’ brother) John
Disciple Fisherman, Apostle
~65 ~98