Septuagint

Entertainment / Literature / Septuagint: A Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) produced in the third century BCE. According to an apocryphal legend found in the 'Letter of Aristeas,' seventy-two Jewish scribes were asked to translate the Torah into Greek for inclusion in the Ptolemaic library. The legend states that they all finished at exactly the same time (seventy-two days) and produced exactly identical translations with no transcription errors or corrections. Although most Biblical scholars dismiss this legend today as implausible and see the story as originating much later than the actual translation, the Septuagint provides an important manuscript comparison with the Masoretic texts. The Septuagint is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the basis of its liturgy. In medieval writing, the Septuagint is often referred to only as the Roman numerals LXX (i.e., 'seventy'). (Latin, septuaginta, 'seventy')
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Masoretic

Entertainment / Literature / Masoretic: (from Hebrew Masorah, 'handed over') The Masoretic texts are partly Hebrew and partly Aramaic versions of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., what Christians call the Old Testament) with accompanying explanatory MORE

Firmament

Entertainment / Literature / Firmament: (Septuagint Greek, stereoma 'the beaten or hammered thing,' Latin firmamentum, 'the solid thing') In Genesis, a mysterious substance described as 'separating the lower waters from the upper waters' be MORE