[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

Thanks George. A couple of small notes.

Originally Posted by George

Just because the A.V. translators refer to the "Septuagint", doesn't mean that it is what the scholars claim it is.

The A.V. reference to the Greek O.T. read to me as politely, humorously dismissive, especially in light of their emphasis on translating from the Hebrew and Aramaic Tanach.

http://www.ccel.org/bible/kjv/preface/pref10.htm
THE TRANSLATORS TO THE READER
Neither did we run over the work with that posting haste that the Septuagint did, if that be true which is reported of them, that they finished it in 72 days; [Joseph. Antiq. lib. 12.]... the work hath not been huddled up in 72 days, but hath cost the workmen, as light as it seemeth, the pains of twice seven times seventy two days and more:

Sounds like they were very away of the strangeness of the Aristeas fable.

The one area where the Greek OT was quite helpful to them (and the Vulgate and Peshitta and other versions would help on this as well) was to have the early language cross-reference translation understanding of difficult words, often animals and plants.

Here is another section from the preface.

"S. Jerome maketh no mention of the Greek tongue, wherein yet he did excel, because he translated not the old Testament out of Greek, but out of Hebrew... If you ask what they had before them, truly it was the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the Greek of the New. These are the two golden pipes, or rather conduits, where-through the olive branches empty themselves into the gold. Saint Augustine calleth them precedent, or original tongues; [S. August. 3. de doctr. c. 3. etc.] Saint Jerome, fountains. [S. Jerome. ad Suniam et Fretel.] The same Saint Jerome affirmeth, [S. Jerome. ad Lucinium, Dist. 9 ut veterum.] and Gratian hath not spared to put it into his Decree, That "as the credit of the old Books" (he meaneth of the Old Testament) "is to be tried by the Hebrew Volumes, so of the New by the Greek tongue," he meaneth by the original Greek. If truth be tried by these tongues, then whence should a Translation be made, but out of them?"

Shalom,
Steven