Old Greek (OG) or Septuagint The earliest trans
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Posted On: 11/16/2025 10:31:37 AM
Old Greek (OG) or Septuagint
The earliest translation of the Hebrew Bible is the Old Greek (OG), the translation made in Alexandria, Egypt, for the use of the Greek-speaking Jewish community there. At first, just the Torah was translated, in the third century B.C.E.; the rest of the biblical books were translated later. The whole Hebrew Bible was likely translated into ancient Greek by the middle of the second century B.C.E.
Scholars think that many OG translators worked from early Hebrew versions of biblical books that were quite different from those versions that became the MT. As a result, some biblical books, such as Daniel, Jeremiah, and Job, are longer or shorter in the OG version of the Bible than they are in the MT.
We now know from discoveries in the Dead Sea region that these alternate Hebrew versions were circulated alongside the versions that became the MT. It is not clear that one Hebrew version was preferred over the others. In any event, the OG translators sometimes chose versions very similar to those later chosen for the MT version, and other times the translators chose versions that were very different.
At the time the Bible was translated into Greek, there was no MT or any official or authorized Bible in existence. There were merely multiple editions of many scrolls of various perceived levels of sacredness. In fact, it seems that there wasn’t an official project to translate “the Bible” into ancient Greek; instead, many different Greek-speaking Jews in various times and places simply translated their favorite books into ancient Greek. Some of these books were later chosen to be included in the Bible, and some were not. It was only many centuries later that people began to choose the best of these Greek translations and to copy them all together as if they were one book. So, it can be said that the Bible was translated in its entirety before there even was a Bible!
Eventually, early Christians adopted the OG as their preferred version of the Hebrew Bible. Most Jews in Greek-speaking lands returned to using the Hebrew version that would later become the MT. Christians then added bits and pieces to what had already been added by Jewish editors and translators, and the resulting text used in early Christian liturgy (and still used by Eastern Orthodox Churches) is called the Septuagint.
Christians then translated the Greek version into many other languages, such as Latin (the Old Latin version, completed by the third century C.E.), African languages such as Coptic (third century C.E.), Asian languages such as Armenian (circa fifth century C.E.), and Arabic (ninth century C.E.).
The earliest translation of the Hebrew Bible is the Old Greek (OG), the translation made in Alexandria, Egypt, for the use of the Greek-speaking Jewish community there. At first, just the Torah was translated, in the third century B.C.E.; the rest of the biblical books were translated later. The whole Hebrew Bible was likely translated into ancient Greek by the middle of the second century B.C.E.
Scholars think that many OG translators worked from early Hebrew versions of biblical books that were quite different from those versions that became the MT. As a result, some biblical books, such as Daniel, Jeremiah, and Job, are longer or shorter in the OG version of the Bible than they are in the MT.
We now know from discoveries in the Dead Sea region that these alternate Hebrew versions were circulated alongside the versions that became the MT. It is not clear that one Hebrew version was preferred over the others. In any event, the OG translators sometimes chose versions very similar to those later chosen for the MT version, and other times the translators chose versions that were very different.
At the time the Bible was translated into Greek, there was no MT or any official or authorized Bible in existence. There were merely multiple editions of many scrolls of various perceived levels of sacredness. In fact, it seems that there wasn’t an official project to translate “the Bible” into ancient Greek; instead, many different Greek-speaking Jews in various times and places simply translated their favorite books into ancient Greek. Some of these books were later chosen to be included in the Bible, and some were not. It was only many centuries later that people began to choose the best of these Greek translations and to copy them all together as if they were one book. So, it can be said that the Bible was translated in its entirety before there even was a Bible!
Eventually, early Christians adopted the OG as their preferred version of the Hebrew Bible. Most Jews in Greek-speaking lands returned to using the Hebrew version that would later become the MT. Christians then added bits and pieces to what had already been added by Jewish editors and translators, and the resulting text used in early Christian liturgy (and still used by Eastern Orthodox Churches) is called the Septuagint.
Christians then translated the Greek version into many other languages, such as Latin (the Old Latin version, completed by the third century C.E.), African languages such as Coptic (third century C.E.), Asian languages such as Armenian (circa fifth century C.E.), and Arabic (ninth century C.E.).
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