| The Legend of the Septuagint: From Classical Antiquity to Today Contributor(s): Wasserstein, Abraham (Author), Wasserstein, David J. (Author), Abraham, Wasserstein (Author) |
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ISBN: 0521104610 ISBN-13: 9780521104616 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $56.04 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2009 Annotation: A history of the uses and abuses of the Septuagint creation in various cultures around the Mediterranean. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Studies - Old Testament - General |
| Dewey: 221.48 |
| Physical Information: 0.79" H x 6" W x 9" (1.15 lbs) 356 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Although the orgins of The Septuagint, the most influential of the Greek versions of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, are uncertain, different versions of a legend about the miraculous nature of its translation have existed since antiquity. The legend describes how Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 BCE) commissioned 72 Jewish scribes to translate the sacred Hebrew scriptures for his famous library in Alexandria and how the scribes, working independently, produced identical Greek versions. Adapted and changed by Jews, Pagans, Christians, and Muslims for many different reasons, all versions of the legend are included in this volume. |
Contributor Bio(s): Wasserstein, Abraham: - Abraham Wasserstein (born Frankfurt am Main, 1921, died Jerusalem, 1995) taught at the universities of Glasgow and Leicester before taking up a chair in Greek at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in 1969, where he stayed until his death in 1995. He had special interests in Greek literature and science, and wrote widely in these fields. His publications include an edition of the medieval Hebrew translation of Galen's commentary on Hippocrates' Airs, Waters and Places (lost in the original Greek). The present book was begun by him and left incomplete at his death.Wasserstein, David J.: - David J. Wasserstein, AW's son, read classics and oriental studies at Oxford (D.Phil. 1982). He lectured in Arabic and Hebrew at University College, Dublin, and was professor of Islamic history at Tel Aviv University, before taking up a chair of History and of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2004. He is the author of The Rise and Fall of the Party-Kings (1985) and The Caliphate in the West (1993), as well as of many articles on medieval Islamic and Jewish topics. |
