The Septuagint: The So-called LXX

Those who have fallen into the trap of a “pre” A.D. LXX, a Greek translation of the Old Testament before the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, are primarily Roman Catholic expositors. Now they are promoting yet another a false claim. Specifically, they claim the chronology in the mystical Septuagint, the LXX, is more accurate than the Traditional Masoretic Text as accurately and faithfully translated into the King James Version. After reading this work, perhaps you will conclude as I have that so much of this farce is false and shameful. Dr. Chris Sherbrune said: “Virtually the only historical evidence for a BC Greek Old Testament called the “Septuagint” (= seventy man or seventy day translation, depending on the legend followed) is “The Letter of Aristeas” found in a highly spurious, non-canonical collection of writings called “The Forgotten Books of Eden.” The Zondervan Preface to their Septuagint call Aristeas a “fable.” The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (p. 308) calls it a “manifest forgery.” Notable Old Testament scholar Paul Kahle calls Aristeas “propaganda.” Internally there are many factual errors in “Aristeas,” such as: “Demetrious was never the royal librarian, and he died long before Alexandria’s naval Victory...” (Thackeray, THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS). The letter tells of a conversation between Demetrious and Theodektes, but Theodektes died before Demetrius was born, and the letter itself is [tentatively] dated some 200 years later than the supposed 300 BC translation of the Old Testament into Greek, (The International Standard bible Encyclopedia, p. 2924.”