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Topic: Letter of Aristeas

	Letter of Aristeas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The so-called Letter of Aristeas is a Hellenistic Jewish forgery or pseudepigrapha.
		Josephus (Antiquities XII:ii passim) ascribes to a certain Aristeas a letter ascribing the Greek translation of the Jewish Law to seventy-two interpreters sent into Egypt from Jerusalem at the request of the librarian of Alexandria, resulting in the Septuagint translation.
		The dissertation was generally regarded as conclusive, although Isaac Vossius (1618-1689), who had been librarian to Queen Christina of Sweden, published an angry and scurrilous reply to it, in the appendix to his edition of Pomponius Mela.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Letter_of_Aristeas (395 words)

	History1
		Although the Letter of Aristeas purports to be the reminiscences of a certain Aristeas, an official in the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-46 BCE), it is generally held that he is a literary fiction (hence the usual appellation Pseudo-Aristeas).
		The terminus a quo of Letter of Aristeas is the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelpheus (He is identified as such by a reference to his father, Ptolemy I Soter [Lagid, who abdicated in 285 BCE and died in 283 BCE] [13]).
		When (the fictional) Aristeas commends the Jews for their monotheism and the reasonableness of the Law (128-72; see 171), it is clear that the author's aim is to inculcate in his genuine readers a respect for Jews and their distinctive religion.
	www.abu.nb.ca /Courses/NTIntro/InTest/Hist1.htm (7709 words)

	Letter of Aristeas
		Ptolemy selects Aristeas to go on an embassy to the high priest Eliezer with the request to send a body of scholars to translate their sacred scriptures into Greek.
		Aristeas takes the opportunity to suggest to Ptolemy the freeing of the 30,000 men whom his father had brought from Palestine as garrisons for the country districts (vv.
		It is possible that the Letter was written in part to defend the validity of the Torah in Greek in face of claims made for the sole sufficiency of the Hebrew version.
	www.earlyjewishwritings.com /letteraristeas.html (1187 words)

	The letter of Aristeas
		The envoys see Jerusalem, inspect the Temple and the citadel, and admire the high priest and his assistants at their service in the sanctuary; they are instructed, moreover, by Eleazar in the deeper moral meaning of the dietary laws, and return, with the seventy-two elders, to Alexandria.
		Schürer has to allow that if the period of the letter is conceived to be that of the Hasmonean independence, it is superfluous to suggest the hypothesis of “an artificial reproduction of by gone circumstances.” And in truth, there are many indications pointing to the later Maccabean times.
		On his breast he wore the oracle of God, as it is called, on which twelve stones, of different kinds, were inset, fastened together with gold, containing the names of the leaders of the tribes, according to their original order, each one flashing forth in an indescribable way 98 its own particular colour.
	khazarzar.skeptik.net /biblia/lxx/aristeas.htm (18439 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		From the second century A.D. the letter of Aristeas is quoted or its contents are summarised by the fathers of the Church, who in general receive the story without suspicion, and add certain fresh particulars.
		Above all, whereas the letter professes to have been written by a Greek and a pagan, its purpose proclaims it to be the work of a Jew; while it addresses itself to Gentile readers, its obvious aim is to glorify the Jewish race, and to diffuse information about their sacred books.
		Aristeas (not the pseudonymous author of the letter, but the writer of a treatise peri IoudaiÅn quotes the book of Job according to the LXX., and has been suspected [74] of being the author of the remarkable codicil attached to it (Job xlii.
	www.ccel.org /ccel/swete/greekot.txt (16787 words)

	The Letter of Aristeas
		In the document known as the Letter of Aristeas, which scholars believe was written by a Hellenistic Jew in the mid second century BC, an elaborate story is related about how the translation of the Pentateuch was done, and the reasons for it, and the circumstances.
		The Aristeas document pretends to date from more than a century earlier, and the setting of the story is the court of Ptolemy Philadelpus in Alexandria.
		The Aristeas story was clearly intended to persuade Jews of the authority and sanctity of the new Greek text.
	www.sentex.net /~tcc/farist.html (844 words)

	Aristeas
		The letter of Aristeas is an interesting book because (_inter alia_) it doesn't fit into any of the standard (and somewhat procrustean) genres or categories of literature usually assigned to the OT Pseudepigrapha (see lecture 1b for 1997, which listed the categories rewritten Bible, testaments, liturgical texts, sapiential texts, magic, and apocalypses).
		A straightforward solution is often impossible, but there is one for Aristeas: it was transmitted in a MS tradition by Christians, it claims to be composed by a pagan, yet it was clearly written by a Jew and perhaps went through a couple of Jewish editions.
		Aristeas was quite influential in early Christian circles because the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the LXX) was adopted by Christians as their inspired scripture to go with the Greek NT.
	www.st-andrews.ac.uk /~www_sd/aristeas.html (2347 words)

	The Letter of Aristeas
		The letter of Aristeas: translated with an appendix of ancient evidence of the origin of the Septuagint by H.St.J. Thackeray.
		A.F.J. Klijn, " The Letter of Aristeas and the Greek Translation of the Pentateuch in Egypt," New Testament Studies 11.2 (1965): 154-158.
		André Pelletier, "Josephus, the Letter of Aristeas, and the Septuagint," Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, eds., Josephus, the Bible, and History.
	www.earlychurch.org.uk /aristeas.php (343 words)

	JOSEPHUS & The SEPTUAGINT
		It is partly dependent on Aristeas, but is full of detail about how Ptolemy shut the translators up in pairs and took strict measures to keep them from collusion (even giving them separate cooks, and skylights rather than windows).
		He puts no more emphasis on the translation itself than did the original Aristeas; the real interest of the story for Josephus seems to be the good relations it shows between Jews and the Egyptian king as well as the king's deep respect for Jewish tradition.
		Most scholars now admit the Letter of Aristeas is a false document, yet the idea of a widespread and authoritative LXX persists.
	www.exorthodoxforchrist.com /josephus_&_the_septuagint.htm (1934 words)

	ISBE Article: "Septuagint" part 1
		The hundreds of contemporary papyrus records (letters, business and legal documents, etc.) recently discovered in Egypt illustrate much of the vocabulary and grammar and go to show that many so-called "Hebraisms" were in truth integral parts of the koine, or "common language," i.e.
		The following statements in the letter may be accepted: (1) The translation was produced at Alexandria, as is conclusively proved by Egyptian influence on its language.
		Swete acutely observes that Aristeas, in stating that the translation was read to and welcomed by the Jewish community before being presented to the king, unconsciously reveals its true origin.
	www.bible-researcher.com /isbelxx01.html (3006 words)

	[No title]
		33 When this memorial had been presented, the king ordered a letter to be written to Eleazar on the matter, giving also an account of the emancipation of the Jewish captives.
		On his breast he wore the oracle of God, as it is called, on which twelve stones, of different kinds, were inset, fastened together with gold, containing the names of the leaders of the tribes, according to their original order, each one flashing forth in an indescribable way
		For I have heard of a fine saying of his to the effect that by securing just and prudent men about his person he would secure the greatest protection for his kingdom, since such friends would unreservedly give him the most beneficial advice.
	www.zyworld.com /cosmiccreeper/OTpseudigigrapha/aristeas.htm (9004 words)

	What about the Septuagint?
		The letter quotes the king telling Demetrius and the translators, when they arrived, how wonderful it was that they came on the anniversary of his "naval victory over Antigonus" (Aristeas 7:14).
		The Letter of Aristeas is a hoax that doesn't even fit the time period in which it claims to have been written.
		Because the jot is a Hebrew letter, and the tittle is a small mark to distinguish between Hebrew letters.
	www.chick.com /ask/articles/septuagint.asp (1278 words)

	Persia & Creation of Judaism; Book 4. Sacred History or Phony History? - Moses And the Exodus (Part III) - (CAIS at ...
		Aristeas the Exegete, Josephus, Clement of Alexandria, Diodorus Siculus and Origen all quote from it.
		The Letter of Aristeas, to Philocrates on the Greek translation of the Jewish law, is similarly dated between 118 BC and 113 BC.
		The repeated mention of Hebrew characters in the Letter of Aristeas is now known to mean the old Hebrew (Phœnician) script, and not the Aramaic characters that are paradoxically now used for Hebrew.
	www.cais-soas.com /CAIS/Religions/non-iranian/Judaism/Persian_Judaism/book4/pt12.htm (5874 words)

	RLST 10: Letter of Aristeas
		This letter, ascribed to a certain member of the court of Ptolemy of Egypt named Aristeas, was probably written in the first century BCE in order to explain the origins of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint).
		For this reason literary men and poets and the mass of historical writers have held aloof from referring to these books and the men who have lived and are living in accordance with them, because their conception of life is so sacred and religious, as Hecataeus of Abdera says.
		These gifts were brought to me by Andreas, one of your most honored servants, and by Aristeas, both good men and true, distinguished by their learning, and worthy in every way to be the representatives of your high principles and righteous purposes.
	faculty.ucr.edu /~andrew/bible/aristeas.htm (2067 words)

	Septuagint, 1 (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) :: Bible Tools
		The traditional account of the translation of the Pentateuch is contained in the so-called letter of Aristeas (editions of Greek text, P. Wendland, Teubner series, 1900, and Thackeray in the App.
		Moys, ii.5 ff.) repeats the story of the sending of the translators by Eleazar at the request of Philadelphus, adding that in his day the completion of the undertaking was celebrated by an annual festival on the isle of Pharos.
		The material was arranged in six parallel columns containing (1) the current Hebrew text, (2) the same in Greek letters, (3) the version of Aquila, (4) that of Symmachus, (5) that of the Septuagint, (6) that of Theodotion.
	bibletools.org /index.cfm/fuseaction/Def.show/RTD/ISBE/ID/7825 (5753 words)

	JNSL Volumes: Volume 28/2
		The Letter of Aristeas and the Letter of Jeremiah represent two different attitudes of Judaism towards Hellenism.
		Aristeas claims an ideal co-existence and intends to approach a learned Judaism to some forms of philosophical monotheism of the Hellenistic intelligentsia.
		The Letter of Jeremiah remind us that the problem of assimilation to the dominant power and religion was a real one under the Seleucid's administration.
	academic.sun.ac.za /as/journals/jnsl/volumes/vol282.htm (1311 words)

	Forgotten Books of Eden: The Letter of Aristeas: Chapter II
		Aristeas is put in charge of the delegation.
		I have received your letter and am greatly rejoiced by your purpose and your noble counsel.
		30 These gifts were brought to me by Andreas, one of your most honoured servants, and by Aristeas, both good men and true, distinguished by their learning, and worthy in every way to be the representatives of your high principles and righteous purposes.
	www.sacred-texts.com /bib/fbe/fbe239.htm (1157 words)

	The Septuagint (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The account of Philo regarding the Septuagint is considered by some to be based upon ancient sources other than Aristeas, and if this is true, and if Josephus had other documents as well, then that would mean that there was independent verification of the facts purported in The Letter of Aristeas.
		Jews have attacked the Letter, stating that it could not be what it purports to be, that of an eyewitness account, because of minor historical discrepancies.
		Again, the reason that the Jews seek to discount The Letter of Aristeas, the account of Josephus, and the account of Philo is because these historical documents make it clear that the men who translated the Septuagint were elders chosen by the High Priest himself, and that the document was accepted universally by the Israelites.
	www.christianseparatist.org /ast/hist/lxx.htm (2702 words)

	More Information: Septuagint and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, The
		Sylvie Honigman argues that the Letter should not be regarded as history, but as a charter myth for diaspora Judaism.
		She expounds its generic affinities with other works on Jewish history from Ptolemaic Alexandria, and argues that the process of translation was simultaneously a process of establishing an authoritative text, comparable to the work on the text of Homer being carried out by contemporary Greek scholars.
		The Letter of Aristeas is among the most intriguing literary productions of Ptolemaic Alexandria, and this is the first book-length study to be devoted to it.
	www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk /html/moreinfo.asp?etailerid=19&bookId=536904927 (197 words)

	Karen H. Jobes and Moises Silva on the Septuagint
		According to Aristeas, after working for seventy-two days, their completed translation was read to the Jewish community of Alexandria, who asked Ptolemy’s librarian to have a copy made for their use.
		Scholars today believe the Letter of Aristeas was written much later than the events it describes during the conflict within Judaism over the influence of Greek language and culture.
		The fact that the Letter of Aristeas has survived in about two dozen copies handwritten in the medieval period suggests that it was widely copied and circulated, which further indicates that it was not a personal letter at all but was intended as an “open letter” to a wider audience.
	www.bibleinterp.com /articles/Septuagint.htm (1324 words)

	A New Look at the Origin of the Bible: The SEPTUAGINT -- Is It a Fraud or Forgery?
		Modern scholars tend to discount this legend, as preserved in a "Letter of Aristeas." Nevertheless, whether the letter itself is part fact, part legend, is not the real issue.
		The fact that Josephus' account differs slightly -- has "variations" -- from the letter of Aristeas is proof that he did not just copy the letter or get his information from the letter itself, entirely, but had other sources at his disposal.
		A letter, purporting to be written by a certain Aristeas to his brother Philocrates in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.), relates how Philadelphus, persuaded by his librarian to get a translation of the Hebrew scriptures for his royal library, appealed to the high priest at Jerusalem.
	www.hope-of-israel.org /lxx.htm (6493 words)

	Truth about Septuagint -1
		The Letter of Aristeas - Many Bible defenders have written articles refuting the fallacious idea that the apostles and our Lord Jesus Christ quoted from a Greek translation called the Greek Septuagint, or simply referred to as the LXX.
		He goes into specific detail about the alleged Letter of Aristeas, which is the primary "historical" document used to buttress the idea that a formalized LXX was actually put together.
		The letter of Aristeas is mere fabrication (Kahle calls it propaganda), and THERE IS NO HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT A GROUP OF SCHOLARS TRANSLATED THE O.T. The research of Paul Kahle shows that there was no pre-Christian LXX.
	www.exorthodoxforchrist.com /truth_about_septuagint_-1.htm (3441 words)

	[reprinted from “As I See It” 7:7, 7:8]
		Actually, Ruckman’s view arose either as a misrepresentation or misunderstanding (Ruckman is a master at both) of the writings of Paul Kahle (1875-1964), expert in the text of the OT, who had a distinctive theory regarding the purpose of the Aristeas letter.
		Philo goes on to relate that even in his day--centuries after the event--there was an annual celebration of the making of the Greek version of the Law of Moses, a celebration thronged by both Jews and Gentiles, on the island of Pharos in Alexandria’s harbor, where the translation work was carried out.
		Thus Philo, a resident of Alexandria where the LXX translation work reportedly took place, uncritically accepts the account of Aristeas, and goes beyond Aristeas in interpreting him to say that each of the translators, working independently, produced verbally identical translations.
	www.kjvonly.org /doug/kutilek_septuagint.htm (5615 words)

	THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SEPTUAGINT By Dr (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		According to the Letter of Aristeas seventy Jewish scholars were chosen to translate the Law of Moses into Greek so that it could be added to the great library of Ptolemy Philadelphus in Alexandria, Egypt.
		The letter states that the High Priest in Jerusalem sent 72 scholars to the Egyptian king.
		Even if the story given in the Letter of Aristeas were true, the Greek translation deals only with the first five books of the Old Testament.
	www.churchofthesonsofyhvh.org /truth_about_the_septuagint.htm (1445 words)

	The Martyrdom of Isaiah (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The Letter of Aristeas summarizes the events allegedly surrounding the production of the Septuagint.
		Upon their arrival in Alexandria, Ptolemy hosts a seven-day banquet, during which he poses difficult question to each translator.
		The probably pseudonymous author claims to be Aristeas, a Jewish official in the court of Ptolemy, writing to his brother Philocrates.
	wesley.nnu.edu /biblical_studies/noncanon/summaries/letter-aristeas-notes.htm (242 words)

	Septuagint and Old Greek Studies Discussion List (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The use of the Letter of Aristeas as a reliable source for historical reconstruction has been called into question, for one thing.
		The discovery of a fairly wide range of textual witnesses to ancient Greek translations of Hebrew biblical books has raised the question of whether there was a single authoritative translation in ancient times such as the Letter of Aristeas postulates.
		And it certainly seems quite clear to many that the Greek translation(s) that was/were produced went through long and sometimes extensive processes of revision that may have gone on until as late as the 3rd or 4th centuries CE.
	students.cua.edu /16kalvesmaki/lxx/LXXFAQ.htm (1033 words)

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