1

Scri
ptur
equotat
ions,unl
essotherwiseindi cat
ed,aret
akenfrom t
heNewKi ngJamesVersi
on®.
Copyri
ght© 1982byThomasNel son,I nc.TheSeptuagint
.© Copy r
ight
.JoshBanks2020,
Dazzl
eTeachingResources.Allr
ightsr eserved.Cont
entsand/orcov
ermaynotber epr
oduced
i
nwhol eori
npartinanyform wit
houtt heexpr esswri
tt
enconsentofthepubli
sher
.

2
 THESEPTUAGI
NT(
LXX)

Thename' Septuagi
nt’wasderi
v edfrom theLat
inwor d'septuaginta’
whichmeans‘ seventy’(70)
.
TheSeptuagint(LXX)istheGr eekversi
onoft heor i
ginalHebr ewBi bl
e,alsoknownast heol d
test
ament.Itistheoldesttr
anslati
onoft heoldtestamenti ntoanotherlanguage.Accordingt o
Bibl
escholars,theSeptuagi
ntisnotasi ngl
etext,butacol l
ectionofGr eektr
anslat
ionoft he
Hebrewbibleproducedbyscr i
bes.Thet erm'Septuagint'i
susedt oref
ergeneral
lytoaddi t
ional
bookssuchasTobi t
,Maccabees, andSirach.

Accordi ngtoal egend,t heor i

ginoft heSeptuagintist raceablet otheletterofAr i
staeus( 2nd
century BCE)whi ch has i tthatPt ol
emy Phi ladelphius (285-246 BCE) ,an Egy pt
ian king
commi ssi
onedat ranslationoft heHebr ew Biblef orhi slibraryinAl exandr i
a.Seventy-two
tr
anslat or
sf rom Jer usalem wer esubsequent l
ysentt ot heI slandofPhar ost otranslat
et he
Torahi ntoGr eek.Anot herl egendholdst hattherewer esev ent y
-twotranslators,si
xf r
om each
ofthet wel vetri
besofI sraelwhot ranslat
edt hePent ateuchf rom Hebrewt oGr eekinthet hir
d
centuryBCE.ThePent ateuchi stheTor ah,thatist hef iv
ebooksofMoses( Genesis,Exodus,
Levit
icus, Number s,Deut eronomy )alsoknownas‘ theLaw' .Thesev enty-twoar eroundeddown
tosev enty,hencetheRomanNumer alLXX.

Asear
lyast
heexi
l
icorpost
-exi
l
icper
iod,
Hebr
ewceasedt
obeaspokenl
anguage.(
Nehemi
ah
13:
24)
.

Nehemi
ah13:
23-
24

23InthosedaysIalsosawJewswhohadmar ri
edwomenofAshdod,Ammon,andMoab.24
Andhalfofthei
rchi
ldr
enspokethelanguageofAshdod,andcouldnotspeakt
hel
anguageof
Judah,
butspokeaccordi
ngt
othelanguageofoneortheotherpeopl
e.

TheJewst ooknon-Jewishwivesforthemsel
v esandsomeoft heirchi
l
drencouldnotspeakthe
Hebrew language.Ar amai csoonbecamet hel inguaf r
ancaoft heJews.Wi t
ht heri
seof
AlexandertheGr eatandt heGreekempi r
es,theJewsi ndiasporawereHell
enized,andsome
Jews,especi al
l
yt hoseliv
inginPtol
emaicEgy pt,Gr eekbecamet hepri
marylanguage.Thus,i
t
becamesi nequanonf ortheScr
ipt
urestobetr anslatedi
ntoGreek.

Thef
ir
stpr
int
edcopyoft
heSept
uagi
ntwasi
ntheCompl
utensi
anPol
ygl
ot(
1514–22)
.St
.

3
Jeromeusedt heSept uaginttobeginhi str
anslati
onoft heVul gateOl dTest amenti n382CE.I n
additi
on t o allt he books oft he Hebr ew canon,t he Sept uagintunderChr istian auspices
separatedt hemi norpr ophetsandsomeot herbooksandaddedt heext rabooksknownt o
ProtestantsandJewsasapocr yphalandt oRomanCat holicsasdeut erocanoni
cal .TheHebr ew
canonhast hreedi vi
sions:t heTorah( Law),t
heNev iʾ
i
m( Prophets),andt heKet uvim( Wr i
tings)
.
TheSept uaginthasf our :law,hi
story,poetry,andpr ophet s,witht hebooksoft heApocr ypha
i
nser t
edwher eappr opri
at e.Thi
sdi v
isionhascont inuedi nt heWest er nchurchinmostmoder n
Bibl
et ranslations,exceptt hatinPr otest
antv ersions,t heApocr yphaar eei t
heromi ttedor
groupedsepar ately.

A Greekschol aroncer emarked t hat“ A si

ngl
ehourl ov i
nglydev ot
ed t ot het ext
soft he
Septuagintwi l
lfurtherourexeget icalknowledgeoft hePaul ineEpist
lesmor ethanawhol eday
spentov eracomment ary.”TheSept uagi
ntisani nvaluablesourcef ort hest udyofthenew
test
ament .I thasi nfl
uencedt henew t estamentpositively.SomeGr eekwor dsthatwear e
famil
iarwi thder i
vedt heirmeani ngf rom theSeptuagint( LXX).Exampl esoft hesewor dsare;
'
doxa' whichis“ gl
or y”intheGreekand' kabod'i
nHebr ewl anguage, '
Christos'whichis'
Chri
st'i
n
theGreek, whichist heGr eektranslati
onoft heHebrewwor d'maschiach' (
Anointedone).

Mostoft hedirectci t
ati
onsoft heOl dtest amentint heNewTest amentmat chtheSeptuagint
andnott heHebr ew Bi ble(orMasor eti
cText{ MT}).Masor eti
ct extsar et hecollect
ionof
mar gi
nalnot esont het extoft heHebr ew Scr i
ptures,composedbyr abbisoft heschoolof
Tiberi
as,int he8t h-9thcenturi
es( CE) .Ther ear eappr oxi
mat elyt hreehundr edol dtest
ament
passagest hatar edirectl
yquotedorst rongl yal
ludedt ointhenewt est ament .I
nmostoft hese
cases,t he new t estamentwr i
ters did notci tethe ol dt estamentt extwor d-for
-word but
paraphrasedt heol dt estamentt extsusi ngJewi shexeget icalt echniques.Howev er
,incases
wher etheoldt estamenti scit
edwor d-
for-wor d,t
henewt estamentwr i
ter squotetheSeptuagint
overt heMasor eti
cappr oximately75per centoft het ime( accordi ngt osomeschol ar
s,that
percentagecl i
mbst o over90per cent,dependi ngonhow onedef ines“ cit
ati
on”).A good
exampl eofthisi sthewor dsofprophetI sai ahtoAhazquot edf rom I saiah7: 14inMat t
hew1: 23

Mat
thew1:
23

23 “
Behol
d,t
hevi
rgi
n shal
lbewi t
h chi
ld,and bearaSon,and t
heyshal
lcal
lHi
sname
I
mmanuel,
”whi
chi
str
anslat
ed,
“Godwithus.
”

TheHebr
ewbi
bler
eadst
huswhent
ransl
ated:
'Behol
d,t
hey
oungwomanshal
lconcei
ve…'

Sept
uagi
nt(
LXX)r
eadst
huswhent
ransl
ated:‘
Behol
d,t
hev
irgi
nshal
lconcei
ve…'

Thewor
dtr
ansl
atedas'
vi
rgi
n’f
rom t
heHebr
ewBi
blei
sthewor
d'‫'עלמה‬
(‛
al
mâh)
.

4
Thewor
dtr
ansl
atedas'
vi
rgi
n'f
rom t
heSept
uagi
nti
sthewor
d'παρθέ
ν
ος'
(par
thenos)

I
nter
esti
ngly,i
tisthewordthatwasusedf ortheword'vi
rgi
n'intheSeptuagintthatwasalso
usedbyMat t
hew i
nt heori
ginalGreekbibl
e(new test
ament )
.Matthew cit
est heSeptuagi
nt
wordforwordandt hi
ssuggeststhatthel
anguageofthevir
ginbir
thofJesusisder i
ved,
inpart
,
fr
om theSeptuagi
nt.

TheSept uagi
ntshedsl i
ghtont het heologyandwor shippracti
cesoftheJewi shpeopleinthe
Secondt empleperiod,whichist heper i
odleadingupt oNewTest amentt i
mes.Forexampl e,i
n
theSept uagintversionoft hePent ateuch,theHebr ew wor dforal
tar(mizbeah)isrenderedby
'
thy siast
eri
on'whenr eferr
ingt ot heJewi shal t
ar,butwhenspeaki ngofpaganal tars,i
tis
referredtoas' bomos'.Thet ranslatorscouldhav eat heologymot i
ve.Perhaps,t
heywant edto
distingui
shbetweenJewi shandnon- Jewishpracti
ces.

Thereisalar
gedif
fer
encebetweent heSeptuagi
ntandt heHebrewBi bl
e.TheSeptuagintPsalt
er
addsanext r
aPsalm(Psalm 151)whereast heori
ginalHebrewBi bl
econtains150chapt er
sof
thi
sbook.Also,
theSeptuagi
ntcopyofthebookofJer emiahissi
gnifi
cantl
yshort
er(1/8th)than
theHebrew.ThebookofDani elandEstheralsohavesi gni
fi
cantsecti
onsaddedt otheirGreek
versi
ons.

I
tisimpor
tantt
oal
sonot
ethatt
hechur
chf
ather
sof
tenquot
edt
heSept
uagi
ntov
ert
heHebr
ew
Bi
ble.

I
nconcl usi
on,theSept uaginti
sv eryimportantasi tshedsmuchneededl i
ghtoni mport
ant
wordsandt heologicalconceptsinbot htheOl dandNew Test ament
s.Ithelpsust obett
er
understandt hereli
giousandpol i
ticalcontextinwhichJesusandt heNewTest amentaut
hors
l
ived.Ithashelpedschol arsindeterminingwhichmanuscr i
ptsar
emostr el
i
ableandthisi
nturn
l
eadst or el
i
abletranslat
ionsoftheol dtestament.

5
"Dazzle"(ver
b)or"dazzling"(adj
ecti
ve)isapr oper
tyofver
ybri
ghtandoverwhel
mingli
ght—t he
sortthattakesy ourattenti
onof feveryt
hingelse andhasyougazingwithawe.Forus,Chri
st
Jesusi sthatLi
ght( John8: 12,2Corin.4:
3-6,Rev.21:
23)&iti
sallaboutHim!Inaworl
df ul
lof
somuchdar kness,wel ivetorevealtheknowledgeofChri
sttoal
lmen&l ightt
hem upwit
hHi s
revel
ation.

Wedosobyget ti
ngthem sav
ed,fi
l
ledwiththeHolyGhost,meetingtheirneedsv i
athepowerof
God&get ti
ngthem togrowintheGospelofHisGrace.Thi
si stheDazzl emission.Thi
siswhat
Godcal l
edust odo&wear econvincedaboutthesame.Weenv i
sionignoranceandspir
it
ual
bli
ndnessdispel
ledandmeni neverypartoftheworldfulloft heglori
ousl i
ghtfoundinthe
knowledgeofChrist
.