Once upon a time in Hellenistic Alexandria, a number of translators (but were there seventy of them?) gathered together to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Known as the Septuagint, the result is a bit of a mystery for most church-going Christians. But a better familiarity with the Septuagint would be good for us for a number of reasons, argue scholars Greg Lanier and William Ross, who have devoted significant attention to this text. The vision for making the Septuagint more accessible for the rest of us—pastors, scholars, and regular Christians in the pews—is behind their new co-edited volume, The Authority of the Septuagint: Biblical, Historical, and Theological Approaches (IVP Academic, 2025).
Greg Lanier is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando) and the academic dean of RTS Global.
Williams Ross is associate professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte).
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Nadya Williams: In your introduction, you note that "Even the most casual reader of a modern edition of the Bible cannot avoid the term Septuagint, since it appears in the footnotes as early as Genesis 2:2 (CSB) or Genesis 4:8 (ESV, NIV). Some study Bibles even mention that Matthew or Luke or Paul are citing a scriptural passage ‘from the Septuagint.’ Those same Bibles as a general rule say little about what this Septuagint actually is."
Thus it seems appropriate to ask: What is the Septuagint? And why should ordinary Christians in the pews care about it? Why is it special?
Greg Lanier: The simplest answer for the average churchgoer is that “the Septuagint” is a label we use for the Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. As most ordinary Christians in the pew probably know, ancient Israel’s Scriptures were given by God to a variety of writers (Moses, David, Isaiah, and so on) mostly in Hebrew, with a bit of Aramaic thrown in (e.g., in Daniel and Ezra). But in the third and second centuries before the time of Christ, what had been the Persian empire was conquered in short order by Alexander the Great. One of his great innovations was spreading Greek language and culture throughout his realm—including Israel. Long story short, the need arose for the Hebrew Scriptures to be translated into Greek, and thus began the “Septuagint” endeavor.
William Ross: But the term itself can also be misleading. When you read “LXX” or “Septuagint” in the footnotes of a Bible like the CSB, ESV, or NIV, you might have an impression that it was a singular thing that could be bought and put on a shelf in ancient Alexandria or Caesarea. It is not so simple.
“Septuagint” derives from the Latin for seventy (hence “LXX” in Roman numerals), and that number got associated—in some of the early mythmaking—with the team that allegedly translated the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy). So “Septuagint” in its most technical sense can refer to the original Greek Pentateuch. But the label eventually got applied to the other books when they were translated in subsequent decades/centuries. And in due course—to make matters worse—the label was also applied to a variety of books that were never part of the Hebrew Bible but circulated in Greek, now known as Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books (like Judith, Tobit, 1 Maccabees, and the like). And to make matters even worse still, this whole effort lacked central coordination, took centuries, happened in multiple places, and was immediately subject not only to revisions but also normal textual issues as scribes copied Greek translations by hand (and made mistakes).
So, “Septuagint” is really a catchall term for the entire stream of activity: original translation(s), revisions, and textual transmission.
Greg Lanier: Ordinary churchgoers should care about “the Septuagint” for at least four reasons: First, similar to how English or Spanish or Mandarin Bibles function today, it was a key means by which the Old Testament was circulated, read, preached, and so forth for centuries. Second, in various ways the apostolic writers of the NT often draw on the Greek textual tradition when they are quoting the Old Testament (more on this below). Third, since all translation by necessity involves a measure of interpretation (since no language matches another 1-to-1), the Septuagint represents one of the earliest attempts to interpret the Hebrew Bible. Fourth, because of its early origins, the Septuagint can be used in selective ways to help restore the ancient Hebrew text of the Bible where there are possible issues or open questions; in fact, the examples mentioned above (e.g., Gen 4:8) are referencing the Septuagint precisely for such purposes.
Nadya Williams: This is an academic edited collection, yet what you have to say is relevant for pastors and for people in the pews, I thought as I was reading. What are some of the key takeaways you want these two categories of readers to get from your book?
William Ross: This book is scratching one main itch that pastors and people in the pews almost always have when they learn a bit about the Septuagint. Namely, if the apostles used it (in some form), does that mean it shares the same kind of authority as the original Hebrew? Is it inspired by God in the same way? Or, are only the portions cited in the NT deemed inspired (as though inspiration could move upstream)? To boil it down to a single question (that motivated our title): does the Septuagint have binding scriptural “authority” today, and if so, how?
Greg Lanier: The various chapters all try to scratch this itch in various ways. For instance, one chapter deals with how early church fathers grappled with these questions. Another chapter tries to provide clarity about what “authority” even means in the first place, and how it can be exercised in various ways (not one-size-fits-all). So in that sense, the Septuagint can have different types of authority depending on what we’re talking about.
William Ross: I’d mention maybe two other key takeaways for the average churchgoer. First, the apostolic writers of the NT did not seem overly concerned with the question itself, so far as we can tell from their writings. They used whatever OT texts were at their disposal and treated them as adequate for their purposes of proclaiming Christ to the ends of the earth. Second, particularly for those of a Reformed persuasion, there were a handful of different opinions about how the Septuagint should be approached in the church during the Reformation and post-Reformation period. Some argued that only the Hebrew should be consulted, while others argued that the Septuagint should play a role. Thus, our modern debates actually go back a long time, and there was room for varying opinions to a degree.
Nadya Williams: This is an edited collection, and most of the contributors are evangelicals, but I see that you do have Catholic and Greek Orthodox contributors in the mix. What are the basic differences between how these different traditions think about the Septuagint?
Greg Lanier: Yes, we invited one of our peers at Cambridge (from back in our PhD days) to contribute a chapter on how he, as a Roman Catholic, thinks about the Septuagint. We thought a Catholic perspective would be interesting because modern Judaism does not really ascribe substantive value to the Septuagint, while the Greek Orthodox Church ascribes nearly all the value to it as the authority. But Catholics have had mixed feelings, particularly given the centuries-long focus on the Latin Vulgate. I was surprised to find that his chapter landed in a very similar place to what many Protestants might argue, though drawing on an entirely different pool of scholarly resources!
William Ross: The Greek Orthodox scholar who contributed (Myrto Theocharous) was mainly providing a scholarly synthesis of the other chapters, not necessarily representing Greek Orthodoxy.
Nadya Williams: What are the big questions that interest each of you in your reading, writing, and thinking? And what is next for each of you?
William Ross: I have a few things nearing the finish line and others in the works. This spring, my grammatical commentary on the Greek version of Ruth will be published with Baylor’s Handbook on the Septuagint series. I’m also finishing up an edited volume with some colleagues for SBL Press that will serve as a multi-author introduction to cognitive linguistics for biblical scholars. Aside from those projects, I’m in various stages of development on a few other things, all of which are related to the Septuagint or biblical languages.
Greg Lanier: We have another joint project in the works that will ultimately be a massive, two-volume resource on the use of Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament—stay tuned for that! Personally, I have a book coming out next year on apocryphal Gospels as well as a big project on New Testament textual criticism with a different RTS colleague (Zach Cole). I’m not sure what lies ahead beyond those projects. Right now I’m keeping myself pretty busy recording content for Daily Dose of Septuagint (like and subscribe!).
