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The Septuagint is the traditional term, derived from the Latin word meaning seventy, for the Old Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. This translation is the earliest and one of the most valuable of the ancient biblical versions. The Septuagint was the Bible of the early Christian Church. When the Bible is quoted in the New Testament, it is almost always from the Septuagint version. Furthermore, even when not directly quoted in the New Testament, many of the terms used and partly crafted by the Septuagint translators became part of the language of the New Testament.

According to an ancient myth, King Ptolemy Philadephus of Alexandria wished to make a collection of the world’s best literature. His librarian, Demetrius of Phalerum, suggested that the Hebrew Scriptures should be part of the collection, "since the law which they contain … is full of wisdom and free from blemish." Ptolemy sent ambassadors with gold and jewels to the Eleazar, the high priest in Jerusalem, requesting a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures as well as a group of learned men who could translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Eleazar selected six elders from each of the twelve tribes and sent them to Alexandra with a copy of the scriptures in which the Jewish characters were written in gold letters. The seventy-two translators completed their task in seventy-two days. When they compared their work they discovered that each had produced an identical translation.

Scholars agree that this story was created by a Jewish man to enhance the importance of the Hebrew Scriptures by suggesting that a pagan king realized their significance and, therefore, arranged for a translation into Greek. Scholars have concluded that the likely motive was to meet the educational and liturgical needs of the large Jewish population in Alexandria, many of whom had forgotten their Hebrew. They spoke Greek but as faithful Jews wanted to understand the ancient scriptures. Over time the Septuagint became widely used by Greek-speaking Jews in antiquity outside of Palestine. From among these people, the early Christian movement recruited its followers.

When a Christian version of the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament, was published together with the New Testament to form the Christian Bible, the editors chose the Septuagint as the basis for their text. It was from the Septuagint that the most influential translation for the Church, the Latin Vulgate, was made. Catholic Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Churches still embrace the tradition of the Greek Old Testament, which has served them well for two thousand years.

In the sixteenth century, however, Protestants turned away from the Septuagint and reverted to the Hebrew Jewish Bible as the basis for translations into modern languages. Hence, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles have more books in the Old Testament than their Protestant counterparts. Books like 1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Jesus Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon were originally written in Greek. The Jewish scholars, who collected and published the Hebrew Jewish Bible during the first two centuries CE, did not accept them in their authoritative edition, which in turn provided the base text for Protestant translations.

In recent years, scholarly interest in the Septuagint has surged. Septuagint projects are underway in several countries. Of particular interest and importance are those focusing on translating the Septuagint into German and English, the first translations of the Septuagint into a modern language.

Dr. David Trobisch, Bangor Theological Seminary’s Throckmorton-Hayes Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, is one of the international scholars engaged in Septuagint research and translation. With his German colleague, Dr. Wolfgang Kraus, Professor of New Testament at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Dr. Trobisch has organized a conference entitled "The Septuagint in Early Judaism and Early Christianity" to be held on the Seminary’s Bangor campus from September 8th to 11th. Dr. Trobisch has invited ten German and eleven US/Canadian noted Septuagint scholars to present research, discuss difficulties, and explore unresolved questions.

In addition to furthering the international exchange on specific Septuagint research projects, the Conference will create a platform for sharing approaches to Septuagint research and enable German, Canadian, and American scholars to develop helpful professional contacts. The Conference is expected to result in the preparation of a collection of essays on the Septuagint and its influence on the New Testament as a whole and on specific New Testament writings. This publication is intended to serve as a standard resource in the field of Septuagint research.