<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>THE BIBLE:<br> HOW IT CAME TO US<br><br> <font size="4">CHAPTER 4 - THE OLD TESTAMENT IN GREEK</b></font></p> <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">According to legend, one of Alexander’s successors, <a href="http://interoz.com/egypt/32dyn02.htm" target="_blank"><b>Ptolemy II Philadelphus</b></a> (282-246 B.C.) wanted a copy of every known book in the world in his famous <a href="http://www.unesco.org/webworld/worlds/stills/fullsize/frntdoor.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Library</b></a>. He also wanted something no one had: a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Ptolemy had a slight problem, however. Only Jews understood Hebrew, and only Greek-speaking Jews could translate the Torah (the books of Moses) <a href="http://www.unesco.org/webworld/worlds/stills/fullsize/scrolls.jpg" target="_blank"><b>for the Library</b></a>. </p> <p>According to the <a href="http://wesley.nnc.edu/noncanon/ot/pseudo/aristeas.htm" target="_blank"><b>Letter of Aristeas</b></a>, Ptolemy II wanted Jewish scholars from Jerusalem to translate the Torah <b>in</b> Alexandria. Although scholars still debate whether it happened this way (and whether the "Letter of Aristeas" is genuine), the Old Testament in Greek may have been born when 72 Jewish scholars, working near one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (Alexandria’s <a href="http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/Gallery/pharos_color.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Great Lighthouse</b></a>) were able to complete their translation of the Torah within 72 days. In honor of those 72 scholars, the Greek Old Testament was called the Septuagint.</p> <p>Today we still have fragments from the Septuagint. Follow this link to view <a href="http://odyssey.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/images/150dpi/740r-at150.gif" target="_blank"><b>Psalm 88:4-8</b></a> written in Greek. The oldest, most complete copy of the Greek Old Testament is the <a href="http://worldinvisible.com/apologet/codsin.htm" target="_blank"><b>Codex Sinaiticus</b></a>, which was found in the 19th century by a German scholar (Constantine von Tischendorf) at <a href="http://interoz.com/egypt/Catherines.htm" target="_blank"><b>St. Catherine’s Monastery</b></a> at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Experts believe it was copied about 350 A.D.</p> <p>Saved from being burned as fuel for 19th century monks, the <a href="http://www.best.com/~gdavis/ntcanon/codices.htm" target="_blank"><b>Sinaiticus</b></a> was probably copied nearly the same time as another ancient Greek manuscript containing the Old Testament: the <a href="http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/3332/mark.html" target="_blank"><b>Codex Vaticanus</b></a>. Because von Tischendorf had been allowed to see the Vatican’s treasure, he was able to recognize what the monks at St. Catherine’s had nearly destroyed: a priceless Greek manuscript of sacred Scriptures. He convinced the monks to give the manuscript to Tsar Alexander II of Russia, von Tischendorf’s sponsor. It remained in Leningrad until 1933, when the Soviet government sold it to the British Museum for 100,000 pounds.</p> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="bible_story_ch3.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>     <a href="bible_story_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER</a>     <a href="bible_story_ch5.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body>