Читать книгу Judaism II - Группа авторов - Страница 49

The Jewish origin of the LXX, described in the Letter of Aristeas, rabbinic literature, and additional sources, is reflected in its terminology and exegesis. Several Hebrew words have been preserved in the LXX in their Hebrew or Aramaic form (at the time of the translation, Aramaic was more commonly spoken by Jews than Hebrew), such as Greek sabbata (Aram. shabta, Heb. shabbat, Sabbath) and pascha (Aram. pasḥa, Heb. pesaḥ, Passover).

Jewish exegesis is visible wherever a special interpretation of the LXX is paralleled by rabbinic literature, for example in the Pentateuch. The Jewish background of the Greek translation of the Torah is well established, while that of the post-Pentateuchal books is not. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that Jews translated these books in the third and second centuries BCE. There probably were no gentiles in Egypt, Palestine, or elsewhere who would have had the skills to make such a transcultural translation or an incentive to do so.