Septuagint

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(seventy). The traditional 70 or 72 translators of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek; but especially, the Greek version of the O. T. made by 72 learned Jews at Alexandria, at command of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about B. C. 270. The beginning of active work on this, the best known of ancient Bible translations, is fixed for the years B. C. 280-285, and it covered a long period of time, the translation of the Apocryphal books having been gradually added. It was made from Egyptian Hebrew manuscripts, and in its completed form is designated by the Roman numerals LXX. It was the version used by Hebrews in Christ’s time and by the Greek Fathers and early N. T. writers, and the Latin version was made from it.