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Event

Translation of the Septuagint

The making of the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures in Egypt, from about the mid-3rd century BCE; the Letter of Aristeas and modern scholars tell it differently.

2 links, 1 backed by primary records

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Dates
c. 300 BCE – c. 100 BCE
Place
Alexandria

In the Letter of Aristeas, seventy-two elders translate the law in seventy-two days. Britannica’s account rests on analysis of the Greek itself: the Torah first, the rest of the Septuagint over the next century or so. The two accounts differ on who asked for it and how long it took; they agree it happened in Egypt.

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  • Septuagint According to Letter of Aristeas Primary record 1

    The letter says King Ptolemy II asked for the translation and the High Priest Eleazar sent six elders from each tribe of Israel. Britannica says the letter is an unreliable source (see c2).

  • Septuagint Scholarship & press 2

    Britannica adds that the legend of translators sent from Jerusalem at Ptolemy II's request comes from the Letter of Aristeas, “unreliable” as a source.

Timeline 1 date
  1. c. 300 BCE – c. 100 BCE Translation of the Septuagint
Proof 2 sources
  1. The Letter of Aristeas (R. H. Charles, ed.), Christian Classics Ethereal Library (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), 1913. Primary record
    asking him to send six elders out of every tribe - men who have lived the noblest life and are most skilled in their law
    it so chanced that the work of translation was completed in seventy-two days, just as if this had been arranged of set purpose.
  2. Septuagint, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Scholarship & press
    Analysis of the language has established that the Torah, or Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), was translated near the middle of the 3rd century bce and that the rest of the Old Testament was translated in the 2nd century bce.
    Another legend holds that the translators were sent to Alexandria by Eleazar, the chief priest at Jerusalem, at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 bce), though its source, the Letter of Aristeas, is unreliable.
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