Oh rightEvangelion wrote:It contained all of the books listed by Josephus and confirmed by the records found in the Talmudic and Midrashic literature of his day.
There is just so much historical evidence to prove this. I am simply flabbergasted that you don't seem to be aware of it.
, sorry man, but like I said, I've not looked into these things that much. However, after a quick google search, it seems that I'm not alone in holding this idea which so 'flabbergasts' you. The Letter of Aristeas/Aristobulus (c. 2nd Century BC)
It appears that he earliest mention of the creation of the LXX comes form an ancient document called "The Letter of Aristeas." This (extremely long) letter is probably dated some time in the first or second century BC. The letter gives the story of how a king of Egypt (probably Ptolemy II (309–246 BC) commisioned a translation of Hebrew scirptures into Greek. There is an edited (!) version of the letter online at ccel. Having scanned through it, I've found the following. It mentions the following from one of the king's men called Demetrius:
"The books of the law of the Jews (with some few others) are absent from the library. They are written in the Hebrew characters and language and have been carelessly interpreted, and do not represent the original text as I am 31 informed by those who know; for they have never had a king's care to protect them. It is necessary that these should be made accurate for your library since the law which they contain, in as much as it is of divine origin, is full of wisdom and free from all blemish.
The king then writes a letter to the Jews including these words:
Now since I am anxious to show my gratitude to these men and to the Jews throughout the world and to the generations yet to come, I have determined that your law shall be translated from the Hebrew tongue which is in use amongst you 39 into the Greek language, that these books may be added to the other royal books in my library.
Once the translation was complete, "Aristeas" narrates:
"The whole book was read over to him [the king] and he was greatly astonished at the spirit of the lawgiver. And he said to Demetrius, 'How is it that none of the historians or the poets have ever thought it worth their while to allude to such a wonderful 313 achievement?' And [Demetrius] replied, 'Because the law is sacred and of divine origin. And some of those who formed the intention of dealing with it have been smitten by God and therefore desisted from 314 their purpose.' He said that he had heard from Theopompus that he had been driven out of his mind for more than thirty days because he intended to insert in his history some of the incidents from the earlier and somewhat unreliable translations of the law."
http://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/aristeas.htm
So, according to the oldest historical reference to the LXX translation, the Septuagint originally comprised solely of the "the law". It should be noted that there seem to be doubts about the veracity of this account and about who actually wrote the letter. See for example, the following articles from wikipedia and the online Jewish Encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_Aristeas
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view. ... 5&letter=A
Philo (c. 20BC to 40AD)
The Alexandrian and Greek speaking Jew Philo was apparently a big fan of the LXX. He seemed to accept Aristeas' account and added some new details which conferred miraculous status to the LXX. In his work entitled "The Life of Moses" (II. 25-45) a fascinating account (which I highly recommend reading) he gave the following details. Again, note the bold sections:
V. (25) [That the] beauty and dignity of the legislation of Moses is honoured not among the Jews only, but also by all other nations, is plain, both from what has been already said and from what I am about to state. (26) In olden time the laws were written in the Chaldaean language, and for a long time they remained in the same condition as at first, not changing their language as long as their beauty had not made them known to other nations; (27) but when, from the daily and uninterrupted respect shown to them by those to whom they had been given, and from their ceaseless observance of their ordinances, other nations also obtained an understanding of them, their reputation spread over all lands... Some persons, thinking it a scandalous thing that these laws should only be known among one half portion of the human race, namely, among the barbarians, and that the Greek nation should be wholly and entirely ignorant of them, turned their attention to their translation...
VI. (31) He, then, being a sovereign of this character, and having conceived a great admiration for and love of the legislation of Moses, conceived the idea of having our laws translated into the Greek language; and immediately he sent out ambassadors to the high-priest and king of Judea, for they were the same person. (32)... [He] requested [the Jewish high priest] to pick him out a number of men, of perfect fitness for the task, who should translate the law ...
(38 ) ... who is there who does not know that every language, and the Greek language above all others, is rich in a variety of words, and that it is possible to vary a sentence and to paraphrase the same idea, so as to set it forth in a great variety of manners, adapting many different forms of expression to it at different times. But this, they say, did not happen at all in the case of this translation of the law, but that, in every case, exactly corresponding Greek words were employed to translate literally the appropriate Chaldaic words, being adapted with exceeding propriety to the matters which were to be explained... (43) In this way those admirable, and incomparable, and most desirable laws were made known to all people, whether private individuals or kings, and this too at a period when the nation had not been prosperous for a long time. "
http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dl ... 25-45.html
Josephus (c. 37AD – c. 100AD)
Moving on, I've also found some comments on the LXX from Josephus. As you clearly respect his testimony as one of God's "chosen people", it may be of interest to you to read the following::
"I found, therefore, that the second of the Ptolemies was a king who was extraordinarily diligent in what concerned learning, and the collection of books; that he was also peculiarly ambitious to procure a translation of our law, and of the constitution of our government therein contained, into the Greek tongue. ... he did not obtain all our writings at that time; but those who were sent to Alexandria as interpreters, gave him only the books of the law, while there were a vast number of other matters in our sacred books."
http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-pref.htm
Interesting.
Talmud? (c. 200AD - 500AD)
The Talmud also states this [The fact that the original Septuagint translated by rabbis more than 22 centuries ago was only of the Pentateuch and not of prophetic books of the Bible such as Isaiah] explicitly in Tractate Megillah (9a)"
http://www.outreachjudaism.org/matthew.html
I am not able to verify this claim by this anti-Christian organisation, but as you seem to be familiar with "talmudic literature" perhaps you could, Evangelion?
So anyway, that's what I've been able to find. It appears that there is alot of evidence that the original LXX only contained the Torah/Pentateuch. But, I again state that I am no expert in this subject so please, no rolly eyes! I have merely looked around the 'net and followed leads provided by various articles. I would greatly appreciate it if you could point me to that mass of evidence that the original LXX did include more than just the Torah (pentateuch).
many thanks in advance,
Ely
