THE SEPTUAGINT GENESIS 📜 The OLDEST Translation Of The Bible (With Text)

Ferdinand Hitzig, the 19th-century German theologian, once said, “Gentlemen, have you a Septuagint? If not, sell all you have, and buy a Septuagint.”

What is the Septuagint? It is the oldest and quite possibly the most important translation of the Bible. It was preferred to the Hebrew text by the Early Christian Church.

When Hebrew ceased to be the spoken language of the Jewish people after they went into exile, Aramaic became their primary language. However Greek became the primary language for the many Jews living in Egypt, and it became necessary for the Hebrew Scriptures to be translated into Greek.

The term Septuagint, meaning “seventy,” actually refers to the seventy-two translators—six from each tribe of Israel—involved in translating the Pentateuch from Hebrew to Greek in the third century BCE (seventy-two is rounded down to seventy.)

The importance of the Septuagint cannot be emphasized enough. It is the Bible that Jesus read and the translation that the New Testament writers quoted from 90 percent of the time. There are around 300 Old Testament passages that are directly quoted or strongly alluded to in the New Testament that are from the Septuagint and not the Hebrew or Masoretic text.

Many Christians today have little or no knowledge of this most important translation of the Bible, which is why I felt compelled to record at least the Book of Genesis. If there is a demand, I will record more.

I am reading from the English translation by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, first published in London in 1851.

Enjoy!

NOTE ABOUT NAME PRONUNCIATIONS: When I read the KJV Bible, I read from a version that has symbols above the words from which could tell the correct pronunciation. In the Septuagint most of the names are spelt differently, as you can see if you follow the read-along text. I researched online as much as I could to get the correct Septuagint pronunciation, but I am aware that its not perfect. Also I am not Jewish and so unfamiliar with Hebrew pronunciation. But I did the best I could!


TIMESTAMPS

00:11 Chapter 1
06:30 Chapter 2
10:51 Chapter 3
15:41 Chapter 4
20:13 Chapter 5
24:27 Chapter 6
28:39 Chapter 7
32:51 Chapter 8
36:51 Chapter 9
41:28 Chapter 10
45:07 Chapter 11
50:18 Chapter 12
53:52 Chapter 13
56:53 Chapter 14
01:01:07 Chapter 15
01:04:29 Chapter 16
01:07:23 Chapter 17
01:12:26 Chapter 18
01:18:19 Chapter 19
01:25:31 Chapter 20
01:28:53 Chapter 21
01:34:08 Chapter 22
01:38:39 Chapter 23
01:41:56 Chapter 24
01:53:41 Chapter 25
01:58:45 Chapter 26
02:04:29 Chapter 27
02:12:29 Chapter 28
02:16:39 Chapter 29
02:22:27 Chapter 30
02:29:43 Chapter 31
02:39:28 Chapter 32
02:45:31 Chapter 33
02:48:59 Chapter 34
02:54:24 Chapter 35
02:59:25 Chapter 36
03:05:25 Chapter 37
03:11:27 Chapter 38
03:16:51 Chapter 39
03:21:04 Chapter 40
03:24:55 Chapter 41
03:34:18 Chapter 42
03:40:35 Chapter 43
03:46:42 Chapter 44
03:52:16 Chapter 45
03:57:22 Chapter 46
04:02:57 Chapter 47
04:09:40 Chapter 48
04:14:14 Chapter 49
04:19:49 Chapter 50