The "Septuagint" Useful in the Past and the Present

Conclusion of Useful Today

Complete copies of the Septuagint  existing today date from as far back as the fourth century C.E.  Such manuscripts and later copies do not contain the divine name, Jehovah,  represented in Hebrew by the Tetragrammaton (YHWH).  These copies have substituted the Greek words for "God" and "Lord" wherever the Tetragrammaton  occurred in the Hebrew text.  However, a discovery in Palestine some 50 years ago shed light on this matter.  A team exploring caves near the west shore of the Dead Sea  uncovered fragments from an ancient leather scroll of the 12 prophets (Horea through Malachi) written in Greek.  These writings were dated between 50 B.C.E. and 50 C.E. In these earlier fragments, the Tetragrammaton had not been replaced by the Greek words for "God" and "Lord."  Hence, the use of the divine name in the early Septuagint version of the Scriptures was confirmed.

The year 1971 saw the release for publication of fragment of an ancient papyrus scroll (Foud 266 papri).  What did these portions of the Septuagint, dating back to the second of the first century B.C.E., reveal?  The divine name was preserved in them also.  These early  fragments of  the Septuagint provide strong evidence that Jesus and his first-century disciples knew and used God's name.

 Today, the Bible is the most translated book in history.  Over 90 percent of the human family have access to at least part of it in their own language.  We are particularly grateful for an accurate modern-language translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures,  now available in whole or in part in over 40 languages.  The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures-With References contains hundreds of footnote references to the Septuagint and to other ancient manuscripts.  Indeed, the Septuagint continues to be of interest and value to Bible students in our day.
Next time: The Mystery of Ill Health

Watchtower, 2002