De interpretibus.
The Seventy and Their Miraculous Agreement
Ptolemy Philadelphus commissioned the Seventy translators, who, working in isolation, produced identical Greek texts through the Holy Spirit.
The first interpreters of the Old Testament were the seventy translators, whom Ptolemy, called Philadelphus, king of Egypt—a man most keen in all learning, since he emulated Pisistratus the tyrant of the Athenians, who first established a library among the Greeks, and Seleucus Nicanor and Alexander and the others before them who had devoted effort to wisdom, in the zeal of libraries—not only collected the writings of the nations, but also brought divine Scriptures into his own library, so that seventy thousand books were found in his time at Alexandria, from Eleazar the high priest, requesting that the Scriptures of the Old Testament be interpreted from the Hebrew tongue into the Greek language. But each one, separated in a cell of his own, so interpreted everything through the Holy Spirit that nothing would be found in any one of their codices that differed from the others, even in the order of words. Because of this, their interpretation is one.
Jerome's Caution and the Later Greek Versions
Jerome questions the legend of miraculous agreement, while Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion produced further Greek translations, and an anonymous fifth edition gained wide use.
But Jerome says that faith should not be placed in this matter. They make the second and third and fourth [interpretations]: Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion—of whom the first, that is, Aquila, was a Jew; Symmachus indeed and Theodotion were Ebionite heretics. Nevertheless, it became the practice that after the seventy interpreters, the Greek churches would receive and read their copies. The fifth is the common one, whose author is unknown. This is why it specially claimed for itself the name 'the fifth.'
Origen's Hexapla and Jerome's Superior Vulgate
Origen's sixth and seventh editions were preserved by Eusebius and Pamphilus, while Jerome's eighth translation is preferred for its precision and clarity.
The sixth and seventh are Origen's, whose copies Eusebius and Pamphilus published. The eighth is Jerome's, which is rightly preferred to the others, for it is more precise in its wording and clearer in the clarity of its thought.
Read the original Latin
Interpretes Veteris Testamenti primum lxx interpretes quos Ptolemaeus, cognomento Philadelphus, rex Aegypti, omnis litteraturae sagacissimus, cum Pisistratum Atheniensium tyrannum, qui primus apud Graecos bibliothecam instituit, et Seleucum Nicanorem et Alexandrum, et ceteros priores, qui sapientiae operam dederant, in studio bibliothecarum aemularetur, non solum gentium scripturas, sed etiam divinas litteras in suam bibliothecam conferens, ita ut septuaginta milia librorum in tempore eius Alexandriae invenirentur, ab Eleazaro pontifice petens scripturas Veteris Testamenti, in Graecam vocem ex Hebraea lingua interpretari fecit. sed singuli in singulis cellis separati, ita omnia per Spiritum Sanctum interpretati sunt, ut nihil in alicuius eorum codice inventum esset, quod in ceteris vel in verborum ordine discreparet. propter quod una est eorum interpretatio. sed Hieronymus dicit huic rei non esse adhibendam fidem. secundam et tertiam et quartam faciunt Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, quorum primus, id est, Aquila, Iudaeus fuit, Symmachus vero et Theodotion Ebionitae haeretici. obtinuit tamen usus, ut post lxx interpretes ecclesiae Graecorum eorum reciperent exemplaria et legerent. quinta est vulgaris, cuius auctor ignoratur. unde specialiter sibi vindicavit ut quinta appelletur.
sexta et septima est Origenis, cuius codices Eusebius et Pamphilus vulgaverunt. octava est Hieronymi, quae merito ceteris antefertur, nam et verborum tenacior est, et perspicuitate sententiae clarior.
Didascalicon de Studio Legendi (On the Study of Reading) companion
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