Talk:Septuagint

Composition/Canonical Differences

Although the given source https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13432-septuagint#anchor3 says that that LLX “shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage” this source gives no example. The example used in the article עַלְמָה <-> παρθένος appears to me inept, by which I mean wrong (See e.g. https://stephanus.tlg.uci.edu/lsj/#eid=82029&context=lsj on semantic range of παρθένος). The source cited for the example (Sweeney 1996) is discussing NT understanding, not the fitness of the Septuagint translation, in the passage cited.

Best fix I can offer is just to remove the example?

Hebrew Forgery

It appears that the "historical account" is false, that the text was translated from Hebrew into Greek. Especially, given that the Greek translation is highly specific to the culture of third century Greece; which can be cross referenced with a lexicon. 72 Jewish scribes might be hard pressed to even find a 12-letter word for anything, let alone for an "archi-techton," a director of works in Athens, or a Dionysian commissioner of works, author, contrivor, master-builder or chief-artificer. Indeed, the best Hebrew scribes could offer in this regard was a person's name "Charashim", as vague as Mr. Carmichael. 199.204.39.41 (talk) 10:06, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

That may "appear" to you, but to no-one else. Johnbod (talk) 12:39, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

The Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed that many of the books included in the Septuagint were originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, aligning with the traditional Jewish texts. -- 72.177.105.139 (talk) 72.177.105.139 (talk) 19:27, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

Since the dead sea scrolls is the younger text there is no confirmation at all.

This article needs to clarify that the oldest written text is in Greek.

Further on there may need to be a clarification that Hebrew was a super dead language (as in no Hebrew texts discovered prior to the Greek) and a very primitive one at that, with a very limited simpleton vocabulary. 95.194.195.104 (talk) 17:00, 27 August 2024 (UTC)

WP:CITE mainstream WP:RS. tgeorgescu (talk) 04:44, 11 December 2025 (UTC)

Date style: CE/AD or BCE/CE

It kept on changing. The rule is that a consensus must be reached first. Ready for that?

Pro BCE/CE: It's about a translation of the Hebrew Bible, done by Jews in Hellenistic Egypt, more than two centuries before Jesus' birth. It is of importance as a source for pre-canonical Jewish scripture.

Pro CE/AD: It's the base for the Christian OT of every denomination.

Beyond this, I don't see any major pros or cons. Arminden (talk) 08:45, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

For Judaism-focused topics, the implicit invocation of "Christ" is a more plausible issue here than it is in any other context, so if there is consensus to switch on that basis it would be totally reasonable. I personally think the standard default of the original DATEVAR is fine, though. Remsense ‥ 论 17:48, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

• No, the "rule" (WP:ERA) is that the established style should be retained unless there is consensus to change it. The established style of BC goes back to the very first edit in 2001 and as far as I can see has rarely varied since. "Pro CE/AD" - huh??? Where is "BC"?? In my experience Jewish biblical scholarship almost entirely ignores the Septuagint, whose text only survives in Christian manuscripts, and which is in Greek not Hebrew, so I see no reason to reach a different consensus. Johnbod (talk) 02:47, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

I just went through & standardized. Apart from some book titles, which I left, I only had to change 2 or 3. Johnbod (talk) 02:52, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Intro a bit messy

It starts well with dealing with the topic at hand, the Greek translation in Hellenised Egypt, but then, within the same paragraph, it ends with

"Some targums translating or paraphrasing the Bible into Aramaic were also made during the Second Temple period."

Next paragraph:

"Few people could speak and even fewer could read in the Hebrew language during the Second Temple period; Koine Greek and Aramaic were the lingua francas at that time among the Jewish community. The Septuagint, therefore, satisfied a need in the Jewish community."

Problems I see here:

1. Aramaic targums suddenly dumped into Greek LXX context
2. Second Temple period = almost 6 centuries (c. 516 BCE – 70 CE): much too broad to make any valid statement!
3. LXX is associated with Hellenised Alexandria. Were Greek and Aramaic (2 unrelated languages & cultures) equally in circulation in all of the territories with significant Jewish communities, in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa? Areas culturally very different.
4. "Jewish community" in the sing.: can we speak of a Jewish community across those territories and centuries? Maybe so, but then it needs clarification; or maybe not. It most certainly doesn't go w/o saying.

Arminden (talk) 13:06, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

Well, what do sources say? There's no point attempting OR here. On 3, was there really an "Aramaic culture"? The various urban Jewish communities were presumably largely involved in trade, outside Palestine, and may well have used two lingua francas. How relevant/important is North Africa beyond Egypt? Johnbod (talk) 13:53, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

3rd century BC or 2nd century BC?

This article claims the Septuagint was written in the 3rd century BC, but how could that be possible if it includes a translation of the Book of Daniel, which was written in the 2nd century BC? ~2025-39731-75 (talk) 04:21, 11 December 2025 (UTC)

There writing of the Septuagint began in the 3rd century BCE, but it was finished much later. tgeorgescu (talk) 04:41, 11 December 2025 (UTC)

The term "The Septuagint" is often used to refer to the entire Greek Old Testament—even here. This is incorrect as a technical matter. "The Septuagint" is just the miraculous translation of the Torah by those seventy scribes in Alexandria. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). The rest of the books of the Old Testament were translated later or where written originally in Greek.

The term has become synonymous with the entire Greek Old Testament now as a shorthand but you need to keep that in mind. The article sort of discusses that nuance but it could be more clear. ~2026-32665-17 (talk) 12:20, 1 June 2026 (UTC)