Hebrew Bible vs Septuagint: Difference and Comparison

Books are a source of knowledge and a tool that enlightens many people. Every book is related to a different field, and its knowledge is unique. And, if a book is related to religion, 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.

Key Takeaways

1. The Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, is written in Hebrew, while the Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.
2. The Hebrew Bible is the original scripture of the Jewish people, while the Septuagint is used as the Old Testament by the Christian Church.
3. The Hebrew Bible consists of 24 books, while the Septuagint has 46 books, including some additional books not found in the Hebrew Bible.

Hebrew Bible vs Septuagint

Hebrew bible is a religious text in Hebrew and Aramaic that is also known as Tanakh or the Old Testament. It first appeared in the 8^th century and gave basic concepts to Christianity. Septuagint is the translation of the Hebrew Bible in Greek, and it was originally written in Koine Greek in the 3^rd century BC.

Hebrew Bible is also known as Tanakh. It is a collection of Hebrew scriptures, and it also includes Torah. It is mostly Hebrew, but some passages are written in Aramaic. It consists of 24 books which are some part of the old testament.

It gave basic concepts to many other religions like Judaism, Islam, and 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 Greek.

The first few books translated in the 3rd century BC are unavailable now, and later translated books from the 2nd century BC are preserved.

Comparison Table

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 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 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 gives its name “Tanakh.”

The first part is the “Torah,” which means teachings, instructions, or the law. The next part is named “Nevi’im,” which means prophets; the third part is “Ketuvim,” meaning writings like poetry, stories, 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 in Ezra, and different people mention many other opinions for the emergence of the Hebrew Bible.

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 seventy scholars translated it in the 3rd century BC and 2nd Century BC.

The first five books translated in the 2nd Century BC is not available now, but the rest of the book translated in the 3rd century BC is preserved.

Some old texts believe there were 72 translators of the old testament and 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 over 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. Still, in 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.

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 the 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 related to Judaism and Islam. On the other hand, Septuagint was 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.

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