Rick Mansfield
The Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint (SAAS) originally debuted in print about a decade ago as the Old Testament text of the Orthodox Study Bible. It’s now available for purchase all on its own.
English translations of the Septuagint (LXX) are few and far between, so another one is always welcome.
In this blog post, I’ll introduce you to the SAAS, and I’ll also compare it to some of the other translations of the LXX we have available.
What is the Septuagint?
First, let’s talk a little bit about the Septuagint itself. What is it? Why is it important?
The origins and name of the Septuagint
Sometimes called the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint is a blanket term for a collection of Old Testament writings translated into Koine Greek, a process begun in the third century BC but not completed until shortly after AD 100.
The name Septuagint comes from the Latin septuaginta, meaning “seventy.” This is why the abbreviation for the Septuagint is LXX, the Roman numeral for seventy. The designation “seventy” is given to this group of writings because, according to ancient tradition, about seventy (or in some versions of the story, seventy-two) Jewish rabbis, secluded from one another and under divine inspiration, all produced identical Greek translations of the Torah from Hebrew. Although that story seems a bit fanciful to us today, it was sincerely believed in ancient times.
Canon and the Septuagint
Also, it’s worth mentioning that although this original story of composition would have applied specifically to the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament), over time the designation “Septuagint” took on a broader meaning as additional books also became seen as “sacred writings” (ἱερὰ γράμματα, as referred to by the Apostle Paul in 2 Tim 3:15). Jesus often referred to “the Law [or Moses] and the Prophets” (Matt 5:17; Luke 16:16, 29) or “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). However, at the time of the events in the New Testament, there was no general consensus among the various Jewish groups as to what the category of sacred writings comprised. The categories of Law, Prophets, and Writings existed, but the boundaries of the last category was extremely fluid.
Today we use the word canon to describe a list (or rule) as to what books are in the Bible, but that idea would have been a bit foreign in ancient times, other than the Torah. Among the Jewish groups in Jesus’s day, the Pharisees probably recognized the largest group of writings, but the Sadducees only recognized the Torah. Based on what we’ve found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), the Qumran community probably saw the book of Enoch as sacred. As Christianity emerged out of Jewish traditions, the early church embraced the Old Testament writings that were in Greek as the basis for their Scriptures.
The Septuagint contains a longer list of books—roughly ten or so more—than the Hebrew Old Testament. These include:
- Tobit
- Judith
- Wisdom of Solomon
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
- Baruch
- Letter of Jeremiah
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
- Additions to Esther
- Additions to Daniel (Prayer of Azariah, Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon)
- 1 Esdras
- Prayer of Manasseh
- Psalm 151
- 3 Maccabees
- 4 Maccabees
Reception of the Septuagint
Some churches, such as those in Eastern Orthodox traditions use the LXX as the basis of their Old Testament. It’s not that they completely reject the Hebrew text. However, if there is a discrepancy between the Hebrew and Greek, the LXX is generally preferred. The LXX is favored by Orthodox believers because when the New Testament writers quoted the Old Testament, they were usually quoting a Greek translation.
For instance, in Matthew 1:23, we read, “Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son” (NKJV), which is a quotation of Isaiah 7:14. The Greek word for “virgin” is παρθένος, “one who has never engaged in sexual intercourse.”1 This is the same word used in the Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah, as opposed to the more generic word עַלְמָה in the Hebrew, which means “a young woman.”2
Another example of the difference in wording between the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments can be found in Hebrews 2:7, where the writer quotes Psalm 8, stating that humanity was “made … a little lower than the angels” (NKJV). If you’ve ever looked up this quotation in the Old Testament of most popular English translations, you might have found a translation that uses the word “God” instead. This is because the Hebrew uses the word אֱלֹהִים (elohim, “God” or “gods”) in this verse, whereas the Greek Septuagint contains the term ἄγγελος (“angel”; see image below). The writer of Hebrews chose to follow the LXX reading instead of the Hebrew.
Use Logos’s Text Comparison tool to analyze differences across translations and source texts.
The translation and text of the Septuagint
As a translation, the Septuagint reflects an older Hebrew tradition than the one found in the later Masoretic Text (MT) that many Old Testament translations rely on today.
This makes for a number of interesting differences. For instance, the Hebrew refers to Goliath’s height in 1 Samuel 17:4 as “six cubits and a span.” This translates to around nine feet, nine inches. However, the LXX says that Goliath was “four cubits and a span,” roughly six feet, nine inches. Considering the average male height at this time is estimated to be around five feet tall, Goliath would have certainly towered over most people in either case. Interestingly, the Hebrew of the DSS agrees with the LXX about Goliath’s height.
Many newer popular translations will follow the LXX in a reading of the Old Testament if it agrees with the DSS against the tenth century Hebrew MT. For instance, in Deuteronomy 32:8, the ESV translators chose to use the phrase “sons of God” (LXX and DSS), as opposed to “sons of Israel” (MT).
There are differences in the lengths of various Old Testament books. Jeremiah in the LXX is much shorter than the Hebrew MT. Psalms are numbered differently than in the MT, beginning in Psalm 9—and they don’t line back up numerically until Psalm 148.3 There is even an additional 151st psalm in the LXX.
There is a longer ending to the book of Job in the LXX. Hebrew versions of the book end with 42:17, but the Greek version goes on for a few more verses. Here there is a very interesting Old Testament reference to the resurrection in the last days: “It is written that he [Job] will rise with those whom the Lord resurrects” (Job 42:18 SAAS). We find out that Job was “living in the land of Ausitis, on the borders of Edom and Arabia,” and at one time went by the name Jobab (42:19). This also ties Job to the lineage of Esau in Genesis 36:33, thus revealing he was an Edomite. Verses 20–22 describe his family tree and also mention that Job’s wife was Arabian.
English translations of the Septuagint
Although there aren’t as many English translations of the Septuagint as there are versions based on the Hebrew, Logos offers a number that should be part of the personal library of anyone interested in the Old Testament and the history of biblical transmission.
Below is a quick survey of four significant LXX versions, including the soon-to-be-released Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint.
The Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint (SAAS)
As previously mentioned, the Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint was originally released in 2008 in the print version of The Orthodox Study Bible, as its Old Testament text. Of the four versions of the LXX mentioned here, the SAAS is the only version translated exclusively by Orthodox scholars and primarily targeted to the Orthodox faithful, especially laity. It is based upon the Rahlfs-Hanhart edition of the Greek Old Testament, but it also draws stylistically from the New King James Version and even the older Brenton translation of the LXX.
In the print version of The Orthodox Study Bible, the SAAS is used for the Old Testament text, and the New King James Version forms the New Testament. By drawing from the New King James as one of the stylistic exemplars, the translators were better able to harmonize New Testament quotations of the Old Testament, as the writers of the former were most often quoting the LXX.
Not only is the SAAS translated by members of the Orthodox Church with aims to be used by its members, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike will probably find it to be the most readable of all the versions mentioned here. So if you’ve not read the LXX before from beginning to end, the SAAS might be more accessible than some of the other translations here.
Since the SAAS is a translation specifically meant for Orthodox faithful, there are certain aspects of the translation that align with Orthodox vocabulary, especially that used in services. For instance,
- You will usually find “Alleluia” instead of “Praise the Lord” in the Psalms.
- Hades, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol—sometimes translated as “grave” or even “hell”—is left transliterated into English from the Greek, as the word Hades carries theological weight in Orthodox paschal hymns and iconography.
- Also, interestingly, the translators rendered the Greek word ἐκκλησία (ecclesia, “assembly”) directly as “church” in a number of places (Ps 21:23, 26; 25:12; 34:18; 39:10; 67:27; 88:6; Job 30:28; Prov 5:14; Lam 1:10).
New Testament translators generally translate ἐκκλησία as “church,” but part of Orthodox theology emphasizes that the ἐκκλησία has existed throughout all of the history of faith, going all the way back to the angels before the creation of humanity. In the comparisons below, the word ἐκκλησία is translated either “church” or “assembly,” depending on the translation.
| Psalm 21(22):23 | |
| Brenton (1851) | I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I sing praise to thee. |
| NETS (2007) | I will tell of your name to my kindred; in the midst of an assembly I will sing a hymn to you: |
| SAAS (2008) | I will declare Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the church I will sing to You. |
| LES (2019) | I will set out in detail your name to my brothers. In the middle of the assembly I will sing of you. |
On the downside, the SAAS does not contain any textual notes from the translators. Although The Orthodox Study Bible itself has annotations to the biblical text, we’re never given insights into the translational choices of the SAAS. There are no comparisons with the Hebrew MT or the DSS.
And occasionally a passage will—perhaps mistakenly—reflect the Hebrew tradition rather than the Greek, such as in reference to Goliath’s height or the omission of Cain’s words to Abel in Genesis 4:8. This latter passage contains a well-known variant found in the LXX in which Cain speaks to Abel before killing him. Note, in this verse the SAAS sides with the MT instead of the LXX (see chart below).
| Genesis 4:8 | |
| Brenton (1851) | And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it came to pass that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. |
| NETS (2007) | And Kain said to his brother Habel, “Let us go through into the plain.” And it came about when they were in the plain, that then Kain rose up against his brother Habel and killed him. |
| SAAS (2008) | Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. |
| LES (2019) | And Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s walk through the field.” And this happened while they were in the field: Cain rose against Abel, his brother, and he killed him. |
The New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS)
Not to be confused with the similarly named New English Translation of the Bible (NET or NET Bible), the NETS was released in 2007 in print by the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies. Since its release, the NETS has quickly become the standard academic translation of the LXX quoted in journals and scholarly works.
NETS draws heavily from both the newer critical Göttingen edition of the LXX when available, and reverts to the Rahlfs-Hanhart edition the rest of the time. Just as the SAAS draws stylistically from the NKJV, the NETS relies heavily on the New Revised Standard Version. The reliance on the NRSV is not just for stylistic reasons alone, but also to provide a means for the reader to immediately see where the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Old Testament diverge.
The Greek Septuagint is not stylistically consistent, as it was translated over a period of at least two centuries. The NETS tackles these textual and other literary issues of each book in introductions that are extremely valuable. NETS translators describe the nature of the Greek in each book, how closely it relates to the Hebrew, and notable interesting divergences. Also included are dual translations for a number of OT books with competing Greek traditions: Daniel, Esther, Judges, and Tobit. In Logos, the user can put the translations of these traditions side by side for comparison (for example, see below).
Although a standard in scholarly circles, the NETS is not as readable as the SAAS or the Lexham English Septuagint (LES), described below. For instance, translators chose to transliterate Greek names instead of using more accepted English biblical names. So David is Dauid, Joshua is Iesous, and Deuteronomy is Deuteronomion. Moreover, overall style is not consistent between translations and can vary from book to book.
A New English Translation of the Septuagint with Alternate Texts (NETS)
Regular price: $19.99
Lexham English Septuagint, 2nd ed. (LES)
Logos’s very own Lexham English Septuagint (LES) is the most recent translation of the LXX surveyed here. The first edition was released in 2012 and the second in 2020.
Rather than using the Rahlfs-Hanhart and Göttingen editions of the Greek text, the LES is a direct translation of Henry Barclay Swete’s Old Testament in Greek. Not only does that make the LES the only one of these translations not dependent—at least stylistically—on other English versions, but it also allows it to follow the textual basis for Swete’s LXX: Codex Vaticanus. By following these textual traditions, the LES includes texts not included in some copies of the LXX, such as Psalms of Solomon and 1 Enoch.
The second edition was much more than a minor editing of the first. The translators sought to present the LXX “as received” by early Christianity rather than a translation “as produced” by the translators. Stylistic rough edges in the first edition were smoothed out, while terms and names were made more consistent across books. The resulting text is a close translation that is both readable and an excellent choice for those learning Septuagint Greek.
On a personal note, in some of the recent coursework I’ve been personally engaged in, I found myself turning time and time again to the LES when I merely needed to quote the LXX, as opposed to translating the text myself. I have probably quoted the LES more often than any other LXX translation in the last couple of years not only because the translation reads smoothly, but also because the translators had a goal of presenting the LXX as it would have been received in various religious communities.
And, of course, the LES is deeply integrated into Logos, complete with a reverse interlinear linking every English word back to the original Greek (see image above). If the SAAS is a good introductory text to read to get to know the LXX, the LES is a translation that allows the serious Bible student to go even deeper.
Brenton’s Septuagint
Up until this century, the translation of the LXX by Sir Lancelot Brenton, published first in 1881, was really the only choice for reading the LXX in English. Like the LES, Brenton based his translation primarily on Codex Vaticanus; although he supplemented this at times from Codex Alexandrinus where Vaticanus was incomplete.
Brenton purposefully modeled the style of his translation after the King James Version so that it could be read in harmony with what was at the time the most popular English translation of the Bible. This gives his translation a more “biblical”—if not archaic—feel, at times. Even though he was translating in the nineteenth century, his translation is more Elizabethan than Victorian.
Brenton’s translation of the LXX is valuable to include in one’s library because it has been in the public domain for decades and is quoted extensively in commentaries and reference works. Over the years, many pastors bought the familiar print copy that paralleled Brenton’s LXX translation side by side with the King James Version. Of course, in Logos, it can be placed in parallel with any translation if one wished to get the classic sound of the KJV against a more modern translation.
Conclusion
With the release of the Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint, Logos users now have four distinct translations of the LXX for comparison. Whether you want the liturgical familiarity of the SAAS, the academically minded NETS, the modern style of the LES, or the historic voice of Brenton, Logos makes it easy to view them side by side, search across them, and explore how each handles key passages.
For anyone studying the Old Testament, biblical languages, or the history of Scripture traditions, these four translations allow the Logos user to see the richness and depth of the Septuagint tradition.
Rick Mansfield’s suggested resources for further study of the Septuagint
Besides the translations and Greek texts mentioned above, here are a few other titles that may be of interest in study of the Septuagint:
The Septuagint as Christian Scripture: Its Prehistory and the Problem of Its Canon
Regular price: $20.99
When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible
Regular price: $15.99
The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research, 3rd rev. and exp. ed.
Regular price: $27.99
Related articles
- What Is the Septuagint and Is It Valuable for Bible Study?
- When and How to Use the Septuagint in Your Bible Study
- Using the Septuagint (LXX) when Studying the New Testament
- Was There a “Septuagint Canon”?
- What Is Textual Criticism of the Bible? A Crash Course
- William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (University of Chicago Press, 2000), 777.
- Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Brill, 1994–2000), 836.
- For a full list of differences in versification in the LXX, see Appendix D: “Differences in Versification Between English Versions and the Septuagint,” in Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint, 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 2015).
Mark Ward
Dustin Burlet
Logos Staff