Augustine in His Own Words
translators (thus "septuagint"), each working independently, translated the Hebrew original and miraculously produced the exact same Greek translation.52 This translation became the Bible for Greek-speaking Jews and, therefore, for the earliest Christian communities. Contemporary scholars are alert to many differences, large and small, between the Hebrew original and this ancient Greek translation. They differ in respect to canon; for instance, the Hebrew lacks books such as Maccabees and Sirach. They also differ in many, many places in word choice. The Old Testament that Augustine commented on was the Septuagint as translated (often awkwardly) into Latin. He recounts here the famous legend of its creation and expresses his deep veneration of its authority. From On Christian Teaching, Book 2:
(15.22) In emending any Latin translations, we must consult the Greek texts. Of these, the reputation of the seventy (septuaginta) translators is the most distinguished in regard to the Old Testament. These translators are now considered by the more learned churches to have translated under such a sublime inspiration of the Holy Spirit that, even with so many, they spoke with one voice. According to tradition and to many deserving of our trust, these, while translating, were isolated from one another in separate cells. Nothing was discovered in the codex of any one of them that was not discovered [also] in the others, expressed in the same words and the same word order. Who, then, would venture to put anything on a level with this authority; still less, esteem anything better? But even if they had consulted one another so that that one version was produced as a result of working together and a common agreement among them all, even then it is certainly not reasonable or proper for any one person, however expert, to presume to reform the common judgment of these more senior and more learned scholars.53 Therefore, even if we discover something in the Hebrew original different from what they have interpreted, it is my opinion that we should yield to the divine direction. This guidance was accomplished through them so that the books that the Jewish people were not willing to transmit to other nations, either because of reverence or jealousy, were revealed so far ahead of time, with the aid of the authority of King Ptolemy, to those nations who would later believe through our Lord. It may be that they translated according to the manner in which the Holy Spirit—who directed them and caused them to speak the same words— judged how best to adapt things to the Gentiles. But, as I said earlier, a comparison of translators who have adhered quite closely to the actual words is often useful in interpreting a passage. So, as I began to say, the Latin texts
52. See Abraham Wasserstein and David J. Wasserstein, The Legend of the Septuagint: From Classical Antiquity to Today (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
53. "Any one person, however expert": Augustine's target here seems to be Jerome. See below.