The "Septuagint" Useful in the Past and the Present

Useful in the First Century

The Septuagint was used  extensively by Greek-speaking Jews prior to and during the time of Jesus Christ and his apostles.  Many of the Jews and proselytes who gathered in Jerusalem on the day of  Pentecost 33 C.E. were from the district of Asia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Crete-areas in which people spoke Greek.  No doubt they customarily read from the Septuagint.   (Acts 2:9-11) Thus, this version proved to be influential in spreading the good news in the first century.

For example, when speaking with men from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia, the disciple Stephen said:  "Joseph sent out and called Jacob his father and all his relatives from that place [Canaan], to the number of seventy-five souls."  (Acts 6:8-10; 7:12-14)  The Hebrew text in Genesis chapter 46 says that the number of Joseph's relatives was seventy.  But the Septuagint uses the number seventy-five.  Apparently Stephen quoted from the Septuagint. - Genesis 46:20, 26, 27.

As the apostle Paul traveled throughout Asia Minor and Greece during the second and third missionary tours, he preached to many Gentiles who feared God and to "Greeks who worshiped God." (Acts 13:16, 26;17:4)  These people had come to fear God or to worship him because they had gained some knowledge of him from the Septuagint.  In preaching to these Greek-speaking people, Paul often quoted  or paraphrased portions of that translation. -Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:8.

The Christian Greek Scriptures contain some 320 direct quotations and a combined total of perhaps 890 quotations and references from the Hebrew Scriptures.  Most of these are based on the Septuagint.  As a result the quotations taken from that translation came part of the inspired Christian Greek Scriptures.  What  a significant fact this was! Jesus had foretold that the good news of the Kingdom would be preached in all the inhabitant earth.  (Matthew 24:14) To accomplish this, Jehovah would allow his inspired Word to be translated into the various languages read by people worldwide.

Next time: Useful Today

Watchtower, 2002