Philadelphus was the king of Egypt, in the days that the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled over Egypt and Judea. When he, an avid book collector, heard of the scriptures, he desired to have them translated and added to his library.
One of the king's friends, Aristeus, desired to free the many enslaved Jews that were taken during the wars following Alexander's death. Taking this opportunity, he petitioned Philadelphus, which granted it.
Philadelphus sent his library keeper Demetrius to enquire on how best to do the translation. Josephus summarizes the answer thus:
Philadelphus then sent an epistle and expensive gifts to the high priest Eleazar, asking that six men of each tribe be sent to Egypt with copies of the law, in order to translate it. Eleazar complied.
The king accepted the company of these 72 translators, ate with them, and provided them a quiet place by the sea where they may make the translation. When they finished translating (which Josephus says took 72 days - to me that sounds too neat but who knows), the translation was read before the king and the Jews of Egypt, which agreed that this was a good translation and ought not be changed.
For the conclusion, I'll quote Josephus verbatim:
"And when the king had received these books from Demetrius, as we have said already, he adored them, and gave order that great care should be taken of them, that they might remain uncorrupted. He also desired that the interpreters would come often to him out of Judea, and that both on account of the respects that he would pay them, and on account of the presents he would make them; for he said it was now but just to send them away, although if, of their own accord, they would come to him hereafter, they should obtain all that their own wisdom might justly require, and what his generosity was able to give them. So he then sent them away, and gave to every one of them three garments of the best sort, and two talents of gold, and a cup of the value of one talent, and the furniture of the room wherein they were feasted. And these were the things he presented to them. But by them he sent to Eleazar the high priest ten beds, with feet of silver, and the furniture to them belonging, and a cup of the value of thirty talents; and besides these, ten garments, and purple, and a very beautiful crown, and a hundred pieces of the finest woven linen; as also vials and dishes, and vessels for pouring, and two golden cisterns to be dedicated to God. He also desired him, by an epistle, that he would give these interpreters leave, if any of them were desirous of coming to him, because he highly valued a conversation with men of such learning, and should be very willing to lay out his wealth upon such men. And this was what came to the Jews, and was much to their glory and honor, from Ptolemy Philadelphus."
This entire section is an abridgement of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XII, Chapter II, where more details can be found. It can be read online here. Any errors in the abridgement are mine. If anyone here is more knowledgeable and wants to contribute details Josephus skips or reasons to doubt details he provides, feel free to chime in.
Apologies to the Baptists for putting this under Church History
Observations:
- God's blessing on his people even under Greek rule
- The Lord blessing the heathen nations through his church
- No mention of everyone coming up with the same translation independently
- Demetrius admits errors in the transmission of the text. While he tried to get accurate copies, we have no word from God that says that the translation will indeed be accurate, so it is possible they did still get problematic manuscripts. We do however have a promise regarding the original. Thus this leaves no ground for LXX superiority
- Josephus keeps talking about the law. It could be that parts of the LXX, such as the prophets and historical books, were translated on other occasions.
- The translation is still a pretty good one
- God's unlikely providence, through a bookish helenistic king, in ensuring the bible exists in Greek before the gospel later spreads to the nations a few centuries later
One of the king's friends, Aristeus, desired to free the many enslaved Jews that were taken during the wars following Alexander's death. Taking this opportunity, he petitioned Philadelphus, which granted it.
Philadelphus sent his library keeper Demetrius to enquire on how best to do the translation. Josephus summarizes the answer thus:
Philadelphus then sent an epistle and expensive gifts to the high priest Eleazar, asking that six men of each tribe be sent to Egypt with copies of the law, in order to translate it. Eleazar complied.
The king accepted the company of these 72 translators, ate with them, and provided them a quiet place by the sea where they may make the translation. When they finished translating (which Josephus says took 72 days - to me that sounds too neat but who knows), the translation was read before the king and the Jews of Egypt, which agreed that this was a good translation and ought not be changed.
For the conclusion, I'll quote Josephus verbatim:
"And when the king had received these books from Demetrius, as we have said already, he adored them, and gave order that great care should be taken of them, that they might remain uncorrupted. He also desired that the interpreters would come often to him out of Judea, and that both on account of the respects that he would pay them, and on account of the presents he would make them; for he said it was now but just to send them away, although if, of their own accord, they would come to him hereafter, they should obtain all that their own wisdom might justly require, and what his generosity was able to give them. So he then sent them away, and gave to every one of them three garments of the best sort, and two talents of gold, and a cup of the value of one talent, and the furniture of the room wherein they were feasted. And these were the things he presented to them. But by them he sent to Eleazar the high priest ten beds, with feet of silver, and the furniture to them belonging, and a cup of the value of thirty talents; and besides these, ten garments, and purple, and a very beautiful crown, and a hundred pieces of the finest woven linen; as also vials and dishes, and vessels for pouring, and two golden cisterns to be dedicated to God. He also desired him, by an epistle, that he would give these interpreters leave, if any of them were desirous of coming to him, because he highly valued a conversation with men of such learning, and should be very willing to lay out his wealth upon such men. And this was what came to the Jews, and was much to their glory and honor, from Ptolemy Philadelphus."
This entire section is an abridgement of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XII, Chapter II, where more details can be found. It can be read online here. Any errors in the abridgement are mine. If anyone here is more knowledgeable and wants to contribute details Josephus skips or reasons to doubt details he provides, feel free to chime in.
Apologies to the Baptists for putting this under Church History
Observations:
- God's blessing on his people even under Greek rule
- The Lord blessing the heathen nations through his church
- No mention of everyone coming up with the same translation independently
- Demetrius admits errors in the transmission of the text. While he tried to get accurate copies, we have no word from God that says that the translation will indeed be accurate, so it is possible they did still get problematic manuscripts. We do however have a promise regarding the original. Thus this leaves no ground for LXX superiority
- Josephus keeps talking about the law. It could be that parts of the LXX, such as the prophets and historical books, were translated on other occasions.
- The translation is still a pretty good one
- God's unlikely providence, through a bookish helenistic king, in ensuring the bible exists in Greek before the gospel later spreads to the nations a few centuries later
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