By about 400 BCE, there were enough Jews speaking Greek that it was thought important to translate the growing Hebrew Bible into Greek. A few attempts were apparently made, for most regard the "Septuagint" as not having been the first translation into Greek, but rather as being a new translation which compared existing Old Greek translations to the Hebrew texts that they possessed.
During the third century BCE and before, the state of the Hebrew text of the Bible was much freer than it became. Textual variants in the Hebrew account for certain differences between the Greek translation and the standard Hebrew text. The Greek translation we call the Septuagint appears to have been translated (at least in part) in Alexandria, Egypt, during the third century BCE by a group of translators. Tradition tells us that there were seventy or seventy-two (6 from each tribe) of these translators, and it is the number 70 that gives us the nickname "Septuagint" (abbreviated LXX, Roman numeral 70). The story of the translation became legend, and legend has it that the translators prepared their versions separate from one another. Then, when they compared, they found their translations word-for-word identical. This story is a certain fabrication (dating to the second century BCE), and in reality the exact number of translators is unknown. It is also possible that the original corps of translators rendered only the Torah into Greek; the remainder of the Hebrew Bible may have been translated later. Still, the LXX gave Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jews a Bible to study and would later become the standard Biblical text for Christians (until the language of Latin became more dominant).
While the Greek translations were being prepared, the order of books in the Prophets was not yet fixed, and the Writings was still an open collection. Thus, the LXX differs somewhat from its Hebrew counterpart. The order of books in the Hebrew Bible was essentially (though not entirely) chronological; the Septuagint recollected the books according to theme. Thus, various prophetic books were placed together, books dealing with wisdom were collected together, and historical writings were assembled together. In addition, because of the typical size of a scroll, the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles became two books each in the LXX.
As indicated above, Christians normally employed the LXX Greek translation in early years, preferring it to the Hebrew texts that they generally could not read. In fact, Justin Martyr (c. 160 CE) regarded the LXX as the only reliable text of the Old Testament, asserting that the Jews had deliberately corrupted contemporary Hebrew texts. The exact order of books in the LXX did not standardize until late, but eventually, the order settled down to the following order, familiar to Christians:
Additionally, the names of many of the books are the Septuagint names, which come from Greek words or expressions. "Genesis" = "beginning"; "Exodus" = "leaving"; "Deuteronomy" = "second law." The revised order and book names became part of Christian tradition.
The earliest (non-fragmentary) LXX texts are from the collection called the Chester Beatty Papyri, all of which date from the first through 4th century (CE). The conditions of these texts range from poor to fair, with none of them retaining more than a few OT books. The total number of these MSS is seven, one of which contains the book of Sirach.
The most important LXX manuscripts (because of their stage of preservation, text quality, and relative age) are the following codices (books), commonly referred to as the Great Uncials. The term "uncial" indicates that they were written using capital letters only, for the Greek alphabet used no small ("miniscule") letters until several centuries later. Following are the contents of the Great Uncials:
Certain books are missing/lost. Psalms contains Psalm 151 as part of the regular Psalter.
Psalm 151 is included as "outside the number." the Psalms of Solomon is listed in the table of contents for the codex but is not found in the codex itself.
The LXX name for the book we now call 1 Esdras (as above) was actually 2 Esdras. Ezra-Nehemiah was labeled 1 Esdras in the LXX.
The Qumran (koom-rahn) community lived in a reasonably remote area near Jerusalem from near 100 BCE until about 68 CE (when the Roman armies invaded the area). Their purpose as a group is not entirely known, and various theories have been expounded. Nevertheless, the group kept an extensive library of Biblical literature and works of a local variety. The texts found at Qumran illustrate that before the fall of Jerusalem there was considerably more freeness allowed in copying than is found in later manuscripts, and a number of textual variants are preserved in the manuscripts at Qumran. [FYI: the existence of the Qumran community was discovered by accident c. 1947 and made public in 1948. Prior to that time, the state of the Hebrew text in ancient times was unknown.] The Qumran manuscripts predate the most commonly used manuscripts of the Hebrew text by c. 900 years or more.
Unfortunately, there is no complete "Qumran Bible," and so OT translators still must rely on later Hebrew manuscripts, with cross-references made to the LXX, to the Samaritan version of the Torah, and to various commentaries/paraphrases of Hebrew texts. By the way, the Qumran caves contained a Hebrew copy of Psalm 151.
After the fall of Priestly Judaism in the First Revolt (66-73 or 74 CE), both the canon of the Hebrew Bible and the transmission of the Biblical text became more rigid. Rabbi Aqiba (c. 100 CE) is usually associated with the development of the standard Hebrew text (with vowel points), which we call the Masoretic text, after a word signifying "tradition." Hebrew originally had no vowels, but since the language of Biblical Hebrew was falling into disuse (most people spoke Aramaic or Greek), it became necessary to organize a system for remembering how the words were to be pronounced. The modern system of vowel points dates no earlier than the 7th century.
Prior to the fall of the temple, the development of textual variants (often locally) was normal, but after the process of Masoreh, the text was decided on and variants in the text virtually eliminated. The Samaritan text, developed separately after c. 100 BCE, the Septuagint (Greek), and the Masoretic Text became three standard forms of the Old Testament text. The Masoretic Text quickly settled down, and copies from one century are as identical as humanly possible to the manuscripts from earlier or later centuries. The Masoretic Text is usually abbreviated MT.
The major manuscripts of the Masoretic Text are described below. Each contains the entire Hebrew Bible, although not all are entirely complete.
Now select this link to continue to a page about books which predate the formation of the NT and which are not canonical.