Abstract
Book review: Harry Freedman, The Murderous History of Bible Translations: Power, Conflict and the Quest for Meaning (London – Oxford – New York – New Delhi – Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2016). Pp. 248, £ 20. ISBN 978-1-4729-2167-3DOI: https://doi.org/10.31743/ba.2018.8.1.07
Highlights
The first part begins with a recollection of the legend concerning the creation of the Septuagint, which maintains that seventy Jewish scholars allegedly produced a perfect translation of the Torah 1 into Greek for Ptolemy II, the king of Egypt
In Judaism it was superseded by other translations, following the changes within Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD and the controversy with Christians
Describing the Jewish rabbis’ opposition to the Septuagint, the author notes the first occurrence of the phenomenon of religious leaders opposing Scripture translation, so as to prevent its unorthodox understanding
Summary
The first part begins with a recollection of the legend concerning the creation of the Septuagint, which maintains that seventy (or seventy two, depending on its version) Jewish scholars allegedly produced a perfect translation of the Torah 1 into Greek for Ptolemy II, the king of Egypt. 1 It ought to be mentioned here that even though the name “Septuagint” is popularly used among Christians at present to mean the translation of the whole Old Testament into Greek, the author points out that the books translated at first were those of the Pentateuch.
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