This ancient story explains the relationship between Judaism and Hellenism (Greek culture) in Egypt. It tells how the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek, a version known as the Septuagint. The author, Aristeas, claims to be a court attendant in Alexandria under Ptolemy Philadelphus II, who ruled from 283 to 247 BC. Aristeas says he wrote this letter to describe how the translation was made. Although estimates of the date of the Letter of Aristeas range from 200 BC to AD 50, it was probably written toward the end of the second century BC.
King Ptolemy wanted to build a great library that would include all important writings. Because of this project, he became interested in Jewish law. Aristeas asked the king to free and pay all the Jewish slaves in Egypt. The king agreed and sent a request to the high priest in Jerusalem to choose skilled translators to translate the Law from Hebrew into Greek.
The story provides a detailed description of gifts sent to Eleazar, the high priest, with special focus on a fancy table. Aristeas then describes the temple, the priests, the high priest's clothing, and the temple's defense system. He adds a short description of the land of Palestine and the regions around it.
Before the translators left for Alexandria, Eleazar gave them advice and defended the Jewish law from a philosophical point of view. When the seventy-two translators (six from each tribe) arrived in Alexandria, King Ptolemy welcomed them with a large banquet that lasted seven days. Over the seven nights of celebration, the king asked specific questions to the translators. Each translator gave a wise answer. The story records every question and answer along with the translator’s name.
The translators finished their work on the island of Pharos in seventy-two days. The Jews in Alexandria and the king praised their translation. The translators then returned home with many gifts.
In the final section, the author claims he saw these events himself and insists that his report is true. Modern scholars do not believe this claim. The story includes many legendary details, and even ancient readers recognized that it was not completely historical. Aristeas used the description of the translation process as a way to defend Judaism to the non-Jewish world. He combined religious liberalism with faithfulness to basic Jewish beliefs to argue that Jews should be respected and allowed to live freely. Although many details in the Letter of Aristeas are uncertain, the main story of how the Septuagint translation was made is believable.
See the discussion of the Septuagint in Versions of the Bible (Ancient); see also Apocrypha.