Septuagint

Vienna Genesis : The temptation of Joseph

Scroll of the Twelve Prophets from Nachal Chever

The Septuagint ( Latin for seventy , ancient Greek ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα hē Metaphrasis ton hebdomēkonta , the translation of the Seventy ', abbreviation LXX ), also Greek Old Testament known, is the oldest continuous translation of the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible in the ancient Greek everyday language , the Koine . The translation was made from around 250 BC. In Hellenistic Judaism , predominantly in Alexandria . Most of the books were up to about 100 BC. The remaining books followed until 100 AD.

Overview and meaning

Originally, the name Septuagint only referred to the translation of the Torah (the five books of Moses). The term was later expanded to include all versions of the Greek Old Testament. In this later form, the Septuagint contains all of the books of the Hebrew Bible as well as some additional books on the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonicals . The Septuagint is mainly preserved today as a Christian scriptural tradition. Only a few fragments of manuscripts have survived from the early Jewish translations.

The Septuagint is one of the greatest achievements of early Judaism. It was the central medium of connecting Greek-speaking Judaism with the original faith traditions as presented in the Hebrew scriptures. In addition to its use in the congregations, the Septuagint became the basis for theological and historical works ( Philo , Josephus ) and also for numerous new writings (including the so-called Apocrypha) that emerged in Greek-speaking Judaism. With around 400 quotations from the Septuagint, the New Testament also belongs in the history of the impact of the Septuagint. In many places the Septuagint reflects the early Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures and in turn influenced rabbinical traditions.

In the 1st century BC A revision began in which the choice of words was standardized and the Greek text was formally adapted (e.g. word order) to the Hebrew Bible text (in the version valid at that time) (the so-called kaige review). This formal adaptation (which was carried out with varying degrees of intensity in the various biblical books) sometimes led to a somewhat strange Greek. The editing or new translation by Aquila in the first half of the 2nd century AD went even further in this direction , which despite or because of its linguistic strangeness was valued because it was (formally) particularly close to Hebrew. Both versions of the Greek text were in use in Greek-speaking Judaism until the end of ancient times. It was only at the end of antiquity, under Palestinian and Babylonian rabbinic influence, that Greek was replaced by Hebrew as the language of worship. The sometimes quoted dictum that the day the Torah was translated into Greek was an unlucky day for Judaism only dates back to the 8th century, from Babylonian Judaism (post-Talmudic treatise Soferim 1,7).

In the Middle Ages and modern times, the Septuagint (like the other Greek translations) was largely ignored, not only because it was used in the Christian sphere, but also because the Hebrew language was the focus of Jewish identity. The current opinions are different. On the one hand, outdated, negative statements are sometimes reprinted, on the other hand there are many Jewish Septuagint researchers, and the preface to the new German translation of the Septuagint was also signed by the Jews.

Surname

Since the legendary Aristeas letter (around 130 BC), the translation of the Bible has traditionally been named with the Latin numeral septuaginta for "seventy". The name follows the Greek name Κατὰ τοὺς ἑβδομήκοντα Kata tous Hebdomêkonta ("according to the seventy"). The work is often abbreviated with the Roman number LXX or the letter . ${\ displaystyle {\ boldsymbol {\ mathfrak {G}}}}$

Legend has it that 72 Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Torah (five books of Moses) from Hebrew into Greek in 72 days. Each translator is said to have worked for himself, but in the end all 72 translations were absolutely identical: the Holy Spirit gave everyone the same words. The number 72 was rounded down to 70 and commemorates the seventy chosen, who were gifted with God's spirit to help Moses with the justice ( Num 11,24ff EU ). This also emphasized the verbal inspiration of this translation.

The name was extended to all Greek first translations of biblical books and Greek scriptures of Judaism by around 200 AD. The Christians related it to this collection of all Greek-language Jewish scriptures that they adopted as their Old Testament .

canon

Book title and arrangement

Greek	Latinized, German
ΓΕΝΕΣΙΣ	genesis
ΕΞΟΔΟΣ	Exodus
ΛΕΥΙΤΙΚΟΝ	Leviticus
ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ	Numbers
ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝΟΜΙΟΝ	Deuteronomy
ΙΗΣΟΥΣ	Joshua
ΚΡΙΤΑΙ	Judge
ΡΟΥΘ	Ruth
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Α	1. Book of the king (kingdom) e (1Sam)
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Β	2. Book of the king (kingdom) e (2Sam)
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Γ	3. Book of the king (kingdom) e (1King)
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ Δ	4th book of kings (kingdoms) e (2 kings)
ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΠΟΜΕΝΩΝ Α	1. Book of Paralipomenon / / of things left out (1Chron)
ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΠΟΜΕΝΩΝ Β	2. Book of Paralipomenon / the omitted things (2Chron)
ΕΣΔΡΑΣ Α	1. Book of Esdras (otherwise: 3. Ezra)
ΕΣΔΡΑΣ Β	2nd book of Esdras (otherwise: 1st , 2nd book of Esra or Esra , Nehemia )
ΕΣΘΗΡ	Ester
ΙΟΥΔΙΘ	Judit
ΤΩΒΙΤ	Tobit (Tobias)
ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Α	1. Book of the Maccabees
ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Β	2. Book of the Maccabees
ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Γ	3. Book of the Maccabees
ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Δ	4. Book of the Maccabees
ΨΑΛΜΟΙ	Psalms
ΩΔΑΙ (therein ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ ΜΑΝΑΣΣΗ )	Oden (with prayer of Manasseh ) (not a book of the LXX)
ΠΑΡΟΙΜΙΑΙ	Proverbs (Proverbs, Proverbs Solomon)
ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΗΣ	Ecclesiastes ( Ecclesiastes , preacher)
ΑΣΜΑ	Song of Songs
ΙΩΒ	Job ( job , job)
ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΟΛΟΜΩΝΤΟΣ	Wisdom of Solomon
ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΕΙΡΑΧ	Jesus Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
ΨΑΛΜΟΙ ΣΟΛΟΜΩΝΤΟΣ	Psalms of Solomon (no LXX manuscript, only mentioned in Codex Alexandrinus)
ΩΣΗΕ	Osee (Hosea)
ΑΜΩΣ	Amos
ΜΙΧΑΙΑΣ	Michäas (Micha)
ΙΩΗΛ	Joel
ΟΒΔΙΟΥ	Obadja
ΙΩΝΑΣ	Jonas (Jona)
ΝΑΟΥΜ	Nahum
ΑΜΒΑΚΟΥΜ	Habakkuk
ΣΟΦΟΝΙΑΣ	Sophonias (Zefanja)
ΑΓΓΑΙΟΣ	Haggai (Latin Aggäus)
ΖΑΧΑΡΙΑΣ	Zacharias (Zechariah)
ΜΑΛΑΧΙΑΣ	Malachias (Malachi)
ΗΣΑΙΑΣ	Isaias (Isaiah)
ΙΕΡΕΜΙΑΣ	Jeremias (Jeremiah)
ΒΑΡΟΥΧ	Baruch
ΘΡΗΝΟΙ	Lamentations of Jeremiah
ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΙΕΡΕΜΙΟΥ	Letter of Jeremiah
ΙΕΖΕΚΙΗΛ	Ezekiel (Ezekiel)
ΣΩΣΑΝΝΑ	Susanna
ΔΑΝΙΗΛ	Daniel (with additions)

Relationship to other canons

The Septuagint contains all the books of the Tanakh that Jews and Christians recognize as canonical. It also contains some books and additions that do not belong to the canon in Judaism because they either had lost or no Hebrew originals. It arose before the three-part canon of the Tanakh had prevailed. Non-prophetic writings were therefore not added at the back, but rather inserted into the existing plan of Torah (front) and Prophets (back).

They were not compiled according to a graduated rank of revelation, but according to their literary genres , so that the books of history and prophets following the Torah, which are considered Nevi'im in the Tanakh , came apart. Between them moved poetic and wisdom books, which in the Tanakh form the third main part of the Ketubim . In addition, in the LXX the “small” prophets precede the “great” prophets and are not counted as a common twelve prophets book , as in the Tanach , but as individual books. Thus, the great books of prophets in the LXX form the end of the canon and could therefore be understood even more as an open announcement of the future.

Old church canon lists were inconsistent, especially with regard to the distribution of the scriptures that were considered Ketubim in the Tanakh . Finally, all churches took over the four-part division of the LXX canon into Pentateuch, history books, books of wisdom and prophets, the sequence of these parts and, to a large extent, the inner series of each main part, but put the “big” before the “small” prophets and thus brought them closer to the actual historical Course on.

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes the LXX additions to Esther and Daniel, the books of Tobit, Judit, the first two Maccabees, Jesus Sirach, the book of wisdom, Baruch and the letter of Jeremiah as deuterocanonical writings, the 3rd and 4th But not the Book of Maccabees and the 3rd Book of Esdras. The 2nd book of Esdras divides them into the books of Esra and Nehemiah.

Most of the Orthodox Churches have included the books called Deuterocanonical in their canons as Anaginoskomena , as well as the 1st Book of Esdras and the 3rd Book of Maccabees. In some Orthodox churches the Book of Odes , the 4th Book of Maccabees, the Manasseh prayer and a 4th Book of Ezra (which has only been handed down in Latin and Slavic translations, while the Greek version has been lost) are recognized as canonical.

In the Old Testament, Protestantism prefixed the books with a Hebrew text (Tanakh) and placed the other ("deuterocanonical") writings and Manasseh's prayer as the Apocrypha between the Old and the New Testament. Both the Luther Bible and the (Reformed) Zurich Bible had this arrangement. In the reformed churches the apocrypha were pushed back in the following period and then completely omitted. It was only as a result of the so-called Apocryphal Dispute around 1830 that the Apocrypha were omitted from many, but by no means all, editions of the Luther Bible. In more recent times, evangelical Bible editions are widely used with apocrypha.

History in Judaism

Translation of the Torah

The letter to Aristeas depicts the Septuagint in a legendary but historically accurate manner as the result of the collective work of a Hellenistic educated elite among the Jewish Torah teachers. It became necessary because the Jewish diaspora grew rapidly and spoke the world language of that time in worship and everyday life. It also served to explain Judaism to educated non-Jews and to introduce the Torah into philosophical and ethical discourses of the time. The Egyptian ruler's approval of the project is conceivable in order to integrate the strong Jewish minority into his empire and to bind it to the cultural metropolis of Alexandria.

The translators of the Torah proceeded word for word, so that the result also provided the vocabulary for further translations of biblical books. Her choice of words - be it delimiting or absorbing - shows Hellenistic-Egyptian influences and concepts. Thus Gen 1,1 LXX reads : In the beginning God made heaven and earth. The definite article ( ho theos ) immediately distinguished Elohim (literally: “gods”), recognizable in the Hebrew context as a henotheistic predicate of YHWH , from general oriental polytheism .

Translation of other biblical books

Most of the other writings were also translated in Alexandria. The translation dates can only be narrowed down from a few Greek quotations from the LXX text in other sources or contemporary historical references: Isaiah and the chronicle books were therefore up to about 150 BC. BC, the book Job until 100 BC. Completed. That around 132 BC The Greek foreword to Jesus Sirach who wrote the Greek preface to Jesus Sirach already required a Greek translation of "the law, the prophets and the other books", so that at that time only some of the Ketubim (writings), which were controversial until 100 AD, were probably missing. Only the books of Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs and Lamentations were translated in Jerusalem , probably in the 1st century after the temple was destroyed (70). The last book was the “2. Esdras ”(Esra and Nehemiah) translated.

language

While the LXX style of language within a book usually remains almost the same, it differs from book to book: Paul de Lagarde therefore adopted a single translator as a rule for each book. Paul Kahle , on the other hand, accepted several attempts to translate each book, one version of which finally prevailed.

The methods used by the translators differed. Some stayed close to the source text and used many Hebraisms : for example in the Book of Judges, the Samuel and Kings books, the Psalms. These mimicked the word usage and syntax of the Hebrew text templates.

Others translated more freely and adapted to the Greek style and flow of language. B. Genesis, Exodus, Job, Proverbs, Isaiah, and Daniel. The LXX version of the text differs greatly from the well-known Hebrew text.

Numerous Aramaisms point to the language used by translators from the contemporary Aramaic language.

Since the 19th century, the language of the Septuagint has not been understood as a separate “ Bible Greek ” but as Koine Greek with - depending on the translator, more or less - semitic echoes.

Revisions and breaks with the Hebrew text

Even after its provisional conclusion, the text of the LXX continued to develop. Beyond 100 AD it remained the common Bible of the Hellenistic Diaspora Jews, also in synagogue services. After that, it gradually lost its influence for several reasons: firstly, because rabbinical Judaism, led since the destruction of the temple (70 AD) , began to enforce a uniform consonant text (abbreviated Proto- MT ), and secondly, because the standardizing, exegetical method of Rabbi Akiba became dominant (who had meticulously studied the Hebrew Scriptures and was a staunch opponent of Christianity), and third, because Christians appropriated the LXX as "their" Old Testament (most of the Old Testament quotes in the New Testament correspond to the LXX version) and often reinterpreted the Greek text allegorically in order to be able to use it against Jewish interpretations, which intensified its rejection on the part of the Jews.

In Judaism, however, this did not lead to the immediate exclusion of the LXX, but rather to increased attempts to level out the differences between Greek and Hebrew text versions. This alignment began around 100 BC. BC with the kaige review of the LXX versions at that time. This is shown by the Greek scroll of the Twelve Prophets , which was found in a cave in Nachal Chever on the Dead Sea . Such reviewed versions have also been preserved for the judges' book and for parts of the Samuel and King's books.

In the 2nd century, Aquila , Symmachos and Theodotion translated the Tanach, which had already been unified, into Greek again. Theodotion mostly followed the LXX model. These reviews have only survived in fragments and can only be deduced as a whole indirectly from old Hexapla manuscripts , which they compared to the Hebrew text. They were largely lost because the Jews increasingly worked towards the MT and rejected or destroyed other versions, while the Christians passed the different revision of Origen's LXX on more and more as the sole tradition.

History in Christianity

Inclusion in the New Testament

The authors of the New Testament only take up the Hebrew style of the Septuagint in a few books ( Gospel of Luke , Acts of the Apostles ). Otherwise, the Greek in the New Testament has a typical, unique character for each of the writers, since it is the original Greek texts and not translations. The often made summary of the Septuagint Greek and the Greek of the New Testament under the keyword Biblical Greek is therefore not appropriate.

Many of the Old Testament citations found in the New Testament are taken from the Septuagint, with deviations in detail often indicating that the writers were quoting from memory.

Old church

Since a large part of early Christianity emerged from Greek-speaking Judaism (the so-called Hellenists ; cf. Acts 6), it is not surprising that the Old Testament was mostly quoted from the Septuagint by the authors of the New Testament . Most of the Church Fathers also quoted the Old Testament according to the Septuagint, because only a few Church Fathers were even able to speak Hebrew. In addition, the unity of the Old Testament, postulated on the Christian side, with the New Testament, which was written in Greek, became clearer.

Disputes with Judaism or polemics against Judaism also usually took the text of the Septuagint as the basis for their dispute. This contributed to the fact that the Jews turned away from the Septuagint and turned to the Hebrew text, but also led Origen to do his great philological work (the Hexapla ) to scientifically clarify the issues over the text.

Revisions

In Christianity there was at least one revision of the Septuagint text, by Origen. He placed the Hebrew text (in Hebrew script and in Greek transcription) as well as the Septuagint and the three more recent Jewish translations of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion in six columns (hence the name Hexapla). In the Septuagint text he put in “brackets” (ie with the then usual critical text symbols Obelos and Metobelos) excesses of the Septuagint compared to the Hebrew text, and he added, also in “brackets” (ie with the then usual critical text symbols Asteriscus and Metobelos), from the other Greek translations, which was missing in the Septuagint compared to the Hebrew text. This Septuagint text, thus adapted to the Hebrew text recognized at the time, is called the hexaplaric text, which in turn influenced the transmission of the Septuagint.

Traditionally one speaks of two further Christian revisions, namely the Lucian for Syria / Antioch and the Hesychian for Egypt. These revisions must have been made around 300 AD. The search for the Hesychian review has now been given up by most researchers (one speaks neutrally of the Egyptian text), while many researchers stick to the assumption of a Lucian revision (i.e. above all a stylistic adaptation to better Greek). This view is usually based on a statement by Jerome (around AD 400) in his preface to the books of the Chronicle, where he speaks of three text forms, that of Origines in Palestine, that of Lucian in Syria and that of Hesych in Egypt. On the other hand, Hieronymus wrote in his letter to Sunnia and Fretela only of two text forms, the hexaplaric of Origen and the old, widely spread Septuagint, which is now called by many as Lucian. It is therefore probably only a subsequent connection of older text forms with recognized ecclesiastical authorities, with which the text forms concerned are to be protected from changes (the occurrence of the siglum "L" in some manuscripts for "Lukian" is also adequately explained with this).

Church use

The Septuagint is still the most important version of the Old Testament in the Eastern Churches today. It is still used in worship in Greece and Cyprus today. Most other Eastern Churches use an Old Testament translated from the Septuagint into the local language .

The Roman Catholic Church , on the other hand, used both the Septuagint and the Vulgate , a translation of the Bible into Latin by Jerome , for more than a millennium . The church father Jerome changed his original commission to translate the Vulgate exclusively on the basis of the Septuagint by also using the Hebrew text as a basis for translation. Nevertheless, he adopted many readings of the Septuagint, which explains the numerous similarities between the Vulgate and the Septuagint compared to the Masoretic text . He also largely adopted the canon of the Septuagint. Catholic Bibles follow this decision to this day (see also late writings of the Old Testament ).

Martin Luther used the Hebrew Old Testament for his German translation of the Bible and based it on its (shorter) canon. He used the Septuagint and Vulgate as tools for his translation. Some of the additional books of the Septuagint and Vulgate were appended to his translation (the so-called Apocrypha ).

Manuscripts

Fragment 4Q122 , 2nd century BC Chr.

Fragment 4Q120 with God's name ΙΑΩ

About 2000 different manuscripts or remains of manuscripts have survived from the LXX or parts of it. The oldest fragments date from the 2nd century BC. And contain texts from the first five books of Moses (Torah) on papyrus or leather rolls . They confirm the information in Aristeas' letter that the LXX was around 250 BC. Began with the Torah translation. There are 4Q122 / 4QLXXDtn, the Papyrus Rylands 458 and the Papyrus Fouad 266 .

The fragment 4Q119 / 4QLXXLev ^a from the 1st century BC Chr. Translated the original Hebrew text more freely than later manuscripts and thus created his own LXX variant for the book Leviticus. Other fragments from the 1st century BC Are 4Q120 , 4Q121, 7Q1 and 7Q2.

The oldest LXX version of the Book of Daniel contains the papyrus 967 , which was created around 200 AD by two scribes . It was found in Egypt in 1931, along with LXX papyri for most biblical books. Also among the scrolls from the geniza from Cairo to LXX versions found.

The Codex Vaticanus from the 4th century is considered to be the oldest and best complete LXX manuscript, which has hardly been influenced by later revisions . Only his Isaiah text follows the Hexapla . The Codex Sinaiticus largely agrees with him; the deviations are due to revisions of the LXX. The Codex Alexandrinus from the 5th century, on the other hand, was already heavily influenced by the Hexapla. These three codices written by Christians also encompass the New Testament.

From about 500 n. Chr. To dominate in uncials or capital letters (capital letters) recorded, of about 1000 in lowercase or italics listed manuscripts.

Textual criticism

Relation to the masoretic text

The Masoretic Text (MT) prevailed as an authoritative Hebrew Bible text from around 900 and has been an original text in parts of Christianity since around 1520 . By contrast, the LXX was considered secondary for a long time. Only new manuscript finds made it necessary to differentiate this judgment and enabled a greater understanding of the processes of text creation and transmission.

In the book of Isaiah only a few verses of the MT are missing in the LXX. In the books Josua, Richter, Samuel, the 1st Book of Kings, Jeremiah, Daniel, Job, Proverbs and Esters, however, the LXX not only deviates from the MT in individual cases, but also arranges text sections differently and contains less text, resulting in shorter book volumes .

In the book of Jeremiah, LXX is about a seventh shorter than MT because it lacks individual verses or groups of verses - up to 3100 words in total. The sequence of chapters is different, so that the sayings of foreign peoples in Jer 46–51 MT move forward in LXX and result in a different series. In the Samuel books, too, the LXX lacks entire text sections compared to the MT. This is also true, to a lesser extent, of the Book of Exodus. Since the Reformation, these differences have been interpreted as an arbitrary falsification of the MT by the LXX translators.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls , however, there were texts that are closer to the LXX than MT (e.g. 4QJer ^b and ^d ) and whose hypothetical translation back into Hebrew from older manuscripts largely matched. So these Hebrew fragments confirmed the LXX version. Excess text and text changes of the MT in the books of Samuel and Kings and in the Book of Jeremiah could be recognized as later revisions. This invalidated the hermeneutical prejudice that, in cases of doubt, MT should be preferred to LXX as the original one.

Most researchers today assume that for some books up to at least 100 AD several Hebrew versions were handed down in parallel and with equal rights and that the consonant text established from 100 AD still changed until at least 200 AD when the LXX was already completed. This was also revised several times afterwards, so that the strong deviations from each other arose.

Original LXX text

The main problem of text criticism with the help of the LXX is: Before it can be used as a possible correction of Hebrew text versions, the original wording of the LXX itself must be made accessible, if possible. This took Alfred Rahlfs and Rudolf Smend with the Göttingen Septuagint company (founded in 1908, expired in 2015) in attack. About two-thirds of the Bible books appeared in this LXX edition; those that are still missing are in progress and their publication is being supervised by a Göttingen research committee.

Newer versions of the Bible as the German Catholic NRSV fall partly due to readings of the Septuagint, to correct a distorted or unclear Hebrew text or to interpret or more original Hebrew text reproduce (eg. As in 1 Sam 1,9 EU ). Often unique vocabulary that has not been used anywhere else ( Hapax legomena ) can only be translated with the help of the LXX, as ancient Greek offers a larger vocabulary and more possibilities for comparison than ancient Hebrew.

literature

Text output

Alfred Rahlfs (Ed.): Septuaginta, id est Vetus Testamentum Graece iuxta LXX interpretes. Stuttgart 1935 a. a. (Editio altera quam recognovit et emendavit Robert Hanhart, Stuttgart 2006).
Alfred Rahlfs: Septuagint: Vetus Testamentum Graecum. Suppl .: Directory of the Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament. Volume 1,1: The tradition up to the 8th century. Arranged by Detlef Fraenkel. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-525-53447-7 .
Alfred Rahlfs: Directory of the Greek Manuscripts of the Old Testament, for the Septuagint company. Goettingen 1914.
Göttingen Academy of Sciences (Ed.): Vetus Testamentum Graecum auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis editum. Göttingen 1924ff.
Wolfgang Kraus , Martin Karrer (Eds.): Septuagint German. The Greek Old Testament in German translation. Stuttgart 2009 (2nd edition, Stuttgart, 2010), ISBN 978-3-438-05122-6 .

Dictionaries

Friedrich Rehkopf : Septuagint Vocabulary. Göttingen 1989, ISBN 3-525-50172-2 .
A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Revised Edition compiled by Johan Lust, Erik Eynikel, Katrin Hauspie. German Bible Society, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-438-05124-9 .
Takamitsu Muraoka: A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint . Peeters, Leuven 2009, ISBN 978-90-429-2248-8 .

Introductions

KH Jobes, M. Silva: Invitation to the Septuagint. Grand Rapids 2000.
Michael Tilly : Introduction to the Septuagint. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-15631-5 .
Folker Siegert: Between the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. An Introduction to the Septuagint. MJSt 9, Münster 2001.
Felix Albrecht: The Alexandrian Bible Translation. Insights into the genesis, transmission and impact of the Septuagint. In: T. Georges / F. Albrecht / R. Feldmeier (eds.): Alexandria (Civitatum Orbis MEditerranei Studia 1), Tübingen 2013, pp. 209–243.
Siegfried Kreuzer (Ed.): Introduction to the Septuagint (LXX.H1), Gütersloh 2016, ISBN 978-3-579-08100-7 .

Textual criticism

Emanuel Tov : The Text of the Hebrew Bible. Handbook of textual criticism. Stuttgart u. a. 1997, ISBN 3-17-013503-1 .
Emanuel Tov: The Greek Bible Translations. In: ANRW II.20.1, Berlin a. a. 1987, pp. 121-189.
Ernst Würthwein : The text of the Old Testament. An introduction to the Biblia Hebraica. German Bible Society, 5th revised edition, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-438-06006-X .
Michael Hilton: The Septuagint in Mission to the Jews Jewish Interpretations and Positions - An Action against “Mission to the Jews” .
Michael Hilton: As it is Christian, so it is Jewish. 2000 years of Christian influence on Jewish life. With an introduction by Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg. Jewish Publishing House, Berlin 2000, ISBN 978-3-934658-00-4 .

research

Kristin De Troyer: The Septuagint and the Final Form of the Old Testament. Investigations into the genesis of Old Testament texts. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, UTB 2599, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-8252-2599-2 .
Heinz-Josef Fabry , U. Offerhaus (Ed.): In focus: The Septuagint. Studies on the Origin and Significance of the Greek Bible. BWANT 153, Stuttgart a. a. 2001.
Natalio Fernandez Marcos: The Septuagint in Context. Introduction to the Greek Version of the Bible . Brill 2000, Atlanta 2009.
Robert Hanhart: Studies on the Septuagint and Hellenistic Judaism. FAT 24, Tübingen 1999.
Martin Hengel , Anna Maria Schwemer (ed.): The Septuagint between Judaism and Christianity. WUNT 72, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1994.
Herbert Hunger u. a .: The text transmission of ancient literature and the Bible. dtv Wissenschaft, Munich 1988 (1st edition 1961).
Martin Karrer , Wolfgang Kraus (ed.): Septuagint German. Explanations and comments , 2 volumes, Stuttgart 2011.
Martin Karrer, Wolfgang Kraus, Martin Meiser (Eds.): The Septuagint - Texts, Contexts, Lifeworlds , WUNT 219, Tübingen 2008 (see also the other volumes in the series: WUNT 252, Tübingen 2010; WUNT 286, Tübingen 2012; WUNT 325 , Tübingen 2014; WUNT 361, Tübingen 2016).
Siegfried Kreuzer, Jürgen Peter Lesch (Ed.): In focus: The Septuagint. Volume 2, BWANT 161, Stuttgart a. a. 2004.
Siegfried Kreuzer : Origin and Tradition of the Septuagint. In: ders. (Ed.): Introduction to the Septuagint (LXX.H1), Gütersloh 2016, pp. 30–88.
Alfred Rahlfs : Septuagint Studies I – III. 2nd edition, Göttingen 1965.

Web links

Wiktionary: Septuagint - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations