The Septuagint
The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, made by Jews in Egypt from the third century BC. It was the Old Testament of most early Christians, and its wording and numbers sometimes differ from the Hebrew text.
The Septuagint is the Greek version of Israel’s Scriptures. The five books of Moses were translated first, by tradition at Alexandria under Ptolemy II, and the remaining books followed over the next two centuries. The New Testament writers usually quote the Old Testament in this form, and it remains the Old Testament of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Where it differs from the Hebrew text that underlies most modern translations, it is a witness to how the text was read, or to a different Hebrew wording, before the time of Christ. Two differences matter for chronology: the ages in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 are mostly higher, and at Exodus 12:40 the 430 years cover the time in Canaan as well as in Egypt.
Cited in
- undated
- undated
- about 2091 BC, traditional date
- about 1898 BC to 1876 BC, traditional date
- about 1025 BC, traditional date
- about 740 BC, estimated date
- 483 BC to 473 BC, traditional date
- about 435 BC, estimated date
- about 250 BC, estimated date