Bible Fact · Matthew 1:23 — 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son' — quoting Isaiah 7:14 from the Septuagint.
The Septuagint
The Fact
The Septuagint (abbreviated LXX from the Latin for 'seventy') is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. According to tradition recorded in the Letter of Aristeas, 72 Jewish scholars translated the Torah in Alexandria, Egypt around 250 BC for the library of Ptolemy II. The remaining books were translated over the next century or two. The Septuagint became the Bible of the Jewish diaspora — Jews who no longer spoke Hebrew — and the Bible of the early church. Most New Testament quotations of the Old Testament follow the Septuagint wording, not the original Hebrew. When Paul quotes Isaiah or David, he typically uses the Greek Septuagint text. The name 'Septuagint' comes from the legend of 70 (or 72) translators; hence the Roman numeral LXX. The translation choices made in the Septuagint influenced Christian theology significantly — for example, Isaiah 7:14 in the LXX uses the Greek word 'parthenos' (virgin), which Matthew 1:23 cites as fulfilled in Mary.
Context
By the first century AD, many Jews in the Roman Empire no longer read Hebrew — the Septuagint was their Scripture. This is why the New Testament authors, writing in Greek to Greek-speaking communities, quoted the Greek Old Testament.
Significance
The Septuagint shows that from the beginning, Scripture was meant to cross language barriers — God's word is not locked in one tongue but was always meant to be translated and understood.
Reflection
The Bible has been translated into over 3,500 languages. Is there a people group today still waiting for Scripture in their mother tongue? How might you pray for or support Bible translation work?