The Septuagint Bible
The Oldest Text of the Old Testament
In the Translation of Charles Thomson
Secretary of the Continental Congress of the United States of America, 1774-1789
by C. A. Muses M.A., Ph.D. (Columbia)
The Septuagint is an actual ancient text, based on pre-Christian manuscripts no longer in existence and translated into Greek three centuries before Christ.
It is the Bible that was used, read and quoted form by Jesus and the Apostles.
This English translation was made by Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress of the United States, and first published in 1808.
The Septuagint is the oldest text of the Old Testament known to man. It was translated from Greek to English by Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress of the United States of America, in the time period of 1774-1789, and was one of the founding fathers of his country. On this translation, Thomson, one of the great Greek scholars of his time, a friend of Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson, devoted twenty years of his life, from his sixtieth to his eightieth year. The "Thomson Bible" was first published in 1808.
Since this is the oldest test available, it is likely to be the most accurate text of the Old Testament. This Bible has been out of print for more than 35 years. We have now put this Bible back in print.
This edition has been carefully revised by modern scholarship and the text completed in accordance with the best present-day knowledge. Many errors have been corrected, verse references to the generally used King James Bible have been carefully checked so that readers may readily make comparisons between it and the oldest Old Testament.
Listed below are selected passages from the Septuagint to show you how it differs from other texts.
"...For God sent me before you for life...so that God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth and to nourish your great remnant." Genesis 45:5-7
"For He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, kept ready for every occasion." II Samuel 23:5. (Final words of King David on his death bed.)
"Yet we have returned to break Thy commandments, and to intermarry-with the people of these regions. Be not provoked against us to our utter destruction, so that not a remnant may escape." Ezra 9:14
Prayer of Queen Esther: "Hence Thou hast brought us into the hand of our enemies, because we worshiped their gods." Esther 4:---sixth paragraph beyond verse 17. (Verses in the prayers of Mordecai and Esther are not numbered.)
They indeed shall return and come to Zion with joy, and everlasting joy shall crown their head: for on their heads will be praise and rapture; and gladness shall have full possession of them. pain and sorrow and signing are fled." Isaiah 35:9
It is a great thing for thee to be called My servant to re-establish the tribes of Jacob and bring back the dispersion of Israel. Behold I have given thee for the everlasting testament of a RACE--for the light of nations; that thou mayest be for salvation to the farthest part of the earth." Isaiah 49:6
"In the womb, Jacob kicked his brother, but in his troubles, he wrestled with God." Hosea 12:3 (Is National Jacob now wrestling with God?)
"In the same manner as many will be astonished at thee; so devoid of glory for man will be thine appearance, and Thy glory for the sons of men." Isaiah 52:14
"When Israel was young I loved him, and I called his children out of Egypt. The more I called them, the more they ran from My presence. They sacrificed to the Baalims, and burned incense to graven images; therefore I bound Ephraim's feet, I took him up in my arms. When they did not know that I heal by the destruction of men, I bound them with the cords of my love" Hosea 11:1-3