English Translations of the Septuagint

As an addendum to my Bible versions review page, I want to do a separate page comparing the various English translations of the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint or LXX for short, both names meaning “seventy” after the legend that seventy (-two) scribes first translated the Torah from Hebrew into Greek ca. 285 BC by order of King Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Greek Pharaoh of Egypt. Per the legend, as he was building the Great Library of Alexandria he wanted copies every great book in the world, and commissioned the Jews to translate their law into Greek. The Septuagint or LXX later was used to apply to the entire collected Greek translations of the other Old Testament books.

Why do we care about such an old translation?

• It was the Bible of the entire Mediterranean world for centuries, both of many Jewish diaspora as well as the early Christian church
• Many of the other ancient versions of the Old Testament, including the Old Latin, were translated from this Greek rather than the original Hebrew 
• Some of the places where it varies from the Hebrew standard Masoretic text have been shown to match other translations of the Hebrew, and even some of the Hebrew Dead Sea Scrolls which are older than the Masoretic text
• It can clear up passages that are difficult to translate from the Hebrew
• Most modern translations of the Hebrew make reference (and sometimes emendations) from the Septuagint
• Some churches, such as the Eastern Orthodox churches, make the Greek their standard and believed it was an inspired translation
• Most importantly for Christians, the apostles quoted not only from the Hebrew OT but very often - more often than not - from the Septuagint (or perhaps the Hebrew it was based on)

There have been many translations of this Greek text into English, including by one of the Founding Fathers of the USA. However I want to briefly go over some of the best known and most commonly used versions. Most of these actually have equivalents in the standard versions of the Bible, sometimes either modeling after them or even almost modifying the English to line up with the Greek only.

Note: none of these are exactly for general pleasure of reading. They are mostly used for scholarly work, in liturgies and worship, or as a curiosity. However they are still the word of God and will still be edifying if you can read them with an open heart.

Note 2: most editions of the Septuagint include the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books, not used by the Hebrew but used by many ancient Christians (and many Greek speaking Jews).  Some saw them as equally inspired, others as uninspired but helpful and edifying.

Note 3: All of these are fairly literal translations and would be in the “formal equivalent” part of the translation spectrum.  I’m not aware of any dynamic edition of the Greek OT, even though some of the books themselves were translated from Hebrew to Greek in a dynamic fashion (while others were slavishly literal).

Note 4: when the Hebrew was translated into Greek names were modified to be usable both in Greek linguistics as were as pronunciation (since some Hebrew sounds were never used in Greek).  Most of the common English forms of Old Testament names are Hebrew based (though also modified for our language). Most editions of the Septuagint slightly modify the Greek but some transliterate exactly. Some examples of Anglicized Hebrew (AH) vs Anglicized Greek (AG) vs. Original Greek (OG)

• Judah (AH) vs. Judas (AG) vs. Ioudas (OG)
• Joshua/Jeshua (AH) vs. Jesus (AG) vs. Iesous (OG)
• Elijah (AH) vs. Eliou/Elias (AG) vs. Heliou (G)
• Isaiah (AH) vs. Esaias (AG) vs. Hesaias (OG)
• Zechariah (AH) vs. Zacharias (AG/OG)
• Nebuchadnezzar (AH) vs. Nabuchodonosor (AG/OG)

Septuagint Version of the Old Testament Translated into English (BRE)

Translator: Sir Lancelot Benton

Date: 1844

Names: Anglicized Greek

Equivalent: KJV

Brenton’s Septuagint was for decades the Septuagint in English. It was translated from the Codex Vaticanus manuscript of the Bible, on of the earliest and most complete Bibles in the Ancient Greek. The version is very literal and Elizabethan English (thee, thou, -eth, etc) is used throughout. The language and scholarship are old but it is easily available and is still the choice of many Orthodox Christians for public and private study and devotions.

Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint (SAAS)

(Part of the Orthodox Study Bible [OSB])

Translators: Saint Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology (Antiochian Orthodox)

Date: 2008

Names: Anglicized Hebrew

Equivalent: NKJV

Scholars from the Eastern Orthodox Church translated the LXX based on the NKJV; their NT was the NKJV and had been released earlier.  The SAAS is a very readable literal translation like the NKJV. The study notes of the OSB are from an Orthodox point of view, usually quoting from various church fathers.  This one is perhaps the most accessible English LXX Bible due to its use of the more familiar rendering of names and in the more common “Anglicized Hebrew” most American Christians are used to, as well as most of the other wording it uses is much more familiar. It is an interesting introduction both to the Septuagint and to Orthodox Biblical interpretation.

New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS)

Translators: Albert Pietersma, Benjamin Weight, et.al. (Oxford)

Date: 2009

Names: Original Greek

Equivalent: NRSV

Around the same time as the SAAS/OSB was released, Oxford University Press published the NETS, a work of a team of very capable scholars. This edition is based on the mainline scholarly NRSV translation.  The introductions to each book are extremely detailed (lots about the transmission of the books into Greek).  The language is good but they make some odd word choices (e.g. “divine wind ” in Genesis 1.2 rather than “spirit of God” or “wind from God”), and are almost too literal in rendering Greek names; in addition to the above, “Eve” is now “Heua” and “David” is “Dauid”. Good for scholars but I don’t see many using this for devotional or worship uses.

Lexham English Septuagint (LES)

Translator: Lexham Press (Logos Bible software)   

Date: 2019/2020

Names: Anglicized Hebrew (usually)

Equivalent: NASB/NET

I haven’t had the chance to peruse this volume yet beyond a few samples, but being familiar with the Lexham English Bible I can imagine this one will be scholarly and readable, and much more familiar to those who use standard English translations of the Scriptures.  I look forward to spending a little more time in this one day.