Septuagint: Odes

By Scriptural Research Institute

In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria. The creation of the Septuagint resulted from this order. It is generally accepted that there were several versions of the ancient Hebrew and Samaritan scriptures before the translation of the Septuagint. The Book of Odes is not believed to have been added until the 3rd century AD, and is the only specifically Christian book to be added to the Septuagint. It includes the older Prayer of Manasseh, which was found in some copies of the Septuagint, but not all. The Prayer of Manasseh is believed to have been added in the 2nd-century BC, which is why it is not found in all copies. The current scholarly view is that it was likely written in Greek, and is not the original Prayer of Manasseh mentioned in the Septuagint's 2nd Paraleipomenon. Fragments of a different Prayer of Manasseh have been discovered among the dead sea scrolls, written in Hebrew, which could be the original, however, it is more likely that the original would have been written in Canaanite (Samaritan, Paleo-Hebrew) than Hebrew, and therefore it is still not clear which, if either, is the original Prayer of Manasseh. Most of the other songs and prayers in the Book of Odes are copied from other books found in the Septuagint, although not exactly word for word. These songs and prayers include works attributed to Moses, Hannah the mother of Samuel, King Hezekiah, the prophets Habakkuk, Isaiah, Jonah, Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael. Additionally, the Odes includes specifically Christian prayers copied from either the Gospel of Luke, by Zechariah the father of John the Baptist, Simeon, and in some manuscripts Mary the God-Bearer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
• Release date: Jun 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781989852330

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Septuagint: Odes

Septuagint, Volume 35

SCRIPTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Published by Digital Ink Productions, 2022

Copyright

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Septuagint: Odes

Digital edition. June 24, 2022

Copyright © 2022 Scriptural Research Institute.

ISBN: 978-1-989852-33-0

This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2020, primarily from the Codex Alexandrinus.

The image used for the cover is ‘Annuncio dell’angelo a San Zaccaria’ painted circa 1480 by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Note: The notes for this book include multiple ancient scripts. For your convenience, the Quivira font from Alexander Lange, and the Noto fonts from Google are embedded in the ebook. If your reader does not support embedded fonts, you will need to install Unicode fonts that cover the ranges for Akkadian Cuneiform, Greek, Hebrew, Imperial Aramaic, Old Persian Cuneiform, Phoenician, Syriac, and Ugaritic on your reader manually, or you may see blank areas, question marks, or squares where the scripts are used.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Forward

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Appendix

Available Digitally

Available in Print

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In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Israelite scriptures for the Library of Alexandria. This translation later became known as the Septuagint, based on the description of the translation by seventy translators in the Letter of Aristeas. Several versions of the Septuagint were published over the following century, with the final official version of the Septuagint published in approximately 132 BC. In later centuries, additional books were sometimes added as appendixes, including the book of Odes. The book is mostly a collection of older songs and prayers found in the Septuagint, however, it was not made from the Septuagint’s translations, but from Theodotion’s translation of circa 200 AD. Theodotion’s translation was not from the Aramaic texts, but the Hasmonean Dynasty’s Hebrew translation, resulting in some textual differences between the songs in Odes and the versions of them in the older books of the Septuagint, especially in Exodus.

The Book of Odes includes the older Prayer of Manasseh, which was found in some copies of the Septuagint, but not all. The Prayer of Manasseh is believed to have been added to one of the early versions of the Septuagint before the Maccabean Revolt, but removed before the final official version of 132 BC. The current scholarly view is that it was likely written in Greek, and is not the original Prayer of Manasseh mentioned in the Septuagint’s 2nd Paralipomenon, however, translations of the versions found in the Septuagint are the only version found in the various translations of 2nd Paralipomenon, including the Syriac and Ge‘ez translations, which supports the version in the Septuagint as being in the Aramaic translations the Greeks translated. Fragments of a different Prayer of Manasseh have been discovered among the dead sea scrolls, written in Hebrew, which is probably a translation of a Phoenician Prayer of Manasseh. It is unclear which Prayer of Manasseh is the original, and both could be original prayers by Manasseh, who was reported as being a Judahite king from the era when the Judahites were writing in Phoenician, and taken north to Assyria where Aramaic was the common form of writing. The story of his capture is not corroborated by Assyrian sources, and seems unlikely, leaving the question of where the Aramaic prayer came from.

The 5th-century Codex Alexandrinus includes the Prayer of Manasseh as one of the 14 Odes, appearing directly after Psalms, however, it often appears at different positions within Bibles, and is treated as a separate work by many Christian denominations. Jerome’s Vulgate, the 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible, included the Prayer of Manasseh at the end of 2nd Chronicles (2nd Paralipomenon), where it also appears in the Ge’ez translation. In addition to the Greek translation, ancient copies survive in Armenian, Latin, Ge’ez, Old Slavonic, and Syriac, all of which are translations of the Septuagint’s version, and not the