Difference Between Hebrew Bible and Septuagint (With Table)

Books are the source of knowledge, it is a tool that enlightened many people. Every book is related to a different field, and the knowledge contained in it is also unique. And, if a book is related to religion, then it unites a group of people and shows the right path. Christians have many books related to their religion. Hebrew Bible and Septuagint are also related to Christianity.

Hebrew Bible vs Septuagint

The main difference between Hebrew Bible and Septuagint is that Hebrew Bible is a sacred text for Christians in the Hebrew language, which consists of many canons. On the other hand, Septuagint is the translation of the Hebrew Bible in the Greek language for Jews in Egypt.

Hebrew Bible is also known as Tanakh. It is a collection of Hebrew scriptures, and it also includes Torah. It is mostly in the Hebrew language, but some passages are written in Aramaic. It consists of 24 books which is some part of the old testament. It gave basic concepts to many other religions like Judaism and Islam as well as Christianity.

Septuagint is also known as LXX, which means seventy, as it is believed that 70 Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It was translated for Jewish in Egypt who used to speak the Greek language. The first few books that were translated in 3rd century BC are not available now, and later translated books of 2nd century BC are preserved.

Comparison Table Between Hebrew Bible and Septuagint

Parameters of Comparison

Hebrew Bible

Septuagint

Definition

It is a religious text in Hebrew and Aramaic.

It is the translation of the Hebrew Bible in Greek.

Period

It first appeared in the 8th century BC.

It first appeared in the 3rd century BC.

Language

It is written in Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic.

It was written in Koine Greek.

Other Names

It is known as Tanakh and the old testament.

It was written in Koine Greek.

Followers

It is the basic source for Christians as well as many other religions.

It was mainly translated for Jews.

What is Hebrew Bible?

Hebrew Bible is an old sacred text which is also known as the old testament and Tanakh. It was made in the 8th century BC as a religious book of Jewish people, and it is combined with many other books to form Christian Bible. It is divided into many parts, which consist of different teachings from God.

It is a compilation of 24 books and numbered in chapters and verses. It is similar to the old testament, but the same book is divided into 39 parts in the old testament. It is traditionally divided into three different parts, and the initial of all three parts give its name “Tanakh.”

The first part is “Torah,” which means teachings, instructions, or the law. The next part is named “Nevi’im,” which means prophets, and the third part is “Ketuvim,” meaning writings like poetry, story, etc. All these three parts are together, forming Hebrew Bible known as Tankah.

Different people have different opinions related to its emergence. Some scholars believe that the “Hasmonean dynasty” fixed these texts. But according to Louis Ginzberg, it was fixed Ezra, and many other different opinions are mentioned by different people for the emergence of the Hebrew Bible.

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The Hebrew Bible: A...

The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

What is Septuagint?

Septuagint means seventy in Latin. It is the Greek translation of the old testament primarily made for Greek-speaking Jewish in Egypt. It is also known as LXX as it was translated by seventy scholars in the 3rd century BC and 2nd Century BC. The first five books translated in 2nd Century BC is not available now but the rest of book translated in 3rd century BC is preserved.

Some of the old texts believe that there were 72 translators of the old testament, six scholars from twelve Israeli tribes. They translated the Hebrew Bible, and all the texts were identical. It was accepted as the perfect translation of the bible, but it had some flaws in some words and phrases.

In the third century BC, the king of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, asked seventy-two scholars to translate the Torah into Greek for the Library of Alexandria. After this, other books were also translated in the period of two to three hundred years. The quality of translation varied from book to book as it was translated by different people at different times.

Septuagint is similar to the old testament as it is the translation of the old testament, but at some places, it used Greek idioms and phrases that somehow changed the overall concept of that line or paragraph. There are different opinions on this, but overall, it is a Greek translation by seventy scholars, as the name indicates Septuagint.

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Main Differences Between Hebrew Bible and Septuagint

  1. The main difference between Hebrew Bible and Septuagint is that Hebrew Bible is a religious text in biblical Hebrew, but Septuagint is the same text translated into Greek.
  2. The Hebrew Bible first appeared in the 8th century BC. On the other hand, Septuagint belongs to the period of 3rd century BC.
  3. The other names of the Hebrew Bible are old testament, Tanakh, etc., whereas Septuagint is known as LXX, meaning seventy.
  4. Hebrew Bible is basically for Christians and also related to Judaism and Islam. On the other hand, Septuagint was basically made for Jewish in Egypt.
  5. The language used to write Hebrew Bible is Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic. On the other hand, Septuagint is written in Koine Greek.

Conclusion

Religious texts are like a torchbearer that shows the path in the darkness of life. It does not depend on whether it belongs to any specific community or denominations. All of them have positive thoughts that help us to clear our minds from confusion.

Hebrew Bible and Septuagint both are the same, as both are combating of same books. It just differs in the language used for writing the book and the time period of fixing these books. Hebrew Bible is older and an inspiration for other religions as well, and Septuagint is the translation of the same for Jewish in Egypt.

References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8MbvEZ4bgdwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Hebrew+Bible+and+Septuagint&ots=_d05cMbE9b&sig=oD4-6OtiEquJPKlxcznl9e_oYno
  2. https://search.proquest.com/openview/f4a048643e12bf18cd74b32c65d1e782/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1818010

Last update on 2022-02-08 / Amazon Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API