Ptolemy II
Second of the Greek kings of Egypt, son of Alexander’s general Ptolemy. Jewish tradition from the second century BC makes him the patron who had the law of Moses translated into Greek for the library of Alexandria.
Ptolemy II, called Philadelphus, was the son of Ptolemy son of Lagus, the general of Alexander the Great who made himself king of Egypt. Josephus gives the father a reign of forty years and the son one of thirty-nine (Josephus, Antiquities 12.11).
The Letter of Aristeas sets his court at Alexandria and presents him as a collector of books who asked the high priest in Jerusalem for scholars to translate the Jewish law, and who received them with honour (Letter of Aristeas 9–11, 35–40, 172–180). It also says that he freed the Jews whom his father had brought to Egypt as slaves (Letter of Aristeas 12–27). Philo, three centuries later, calls him the most illustrious of the Ptolemies (Philo, Life of Moses 2.28–30). These are Jewish traditions about him, written a century and more after his death. See the Hebrew Scriptures Are Translated into Greek.
In the timeline
- about 250 BC, estimated dateThe Hebrew Scriptures Are Translated into Greek
Jews in Egypt translate the law of Moses into Greek, by tradition at Alexandria under Ptolemy II, and the other books follow. This version, the Septuagint, is the form in which most early Christians read the Old Testament.
Primary sources
Jewish Antiquities
- Josephus, Antiquities 12.11lexundria.com
The Letter of Aristeas
- Letter of Aristeas 9–11, 35–40, 172–180attalus.org
- Letter of Aristeas 12–27attalus.org