Septuagint
Short answer: The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, made before the New Testament era and widely used by Greek-speaking Jews and early Christians. When the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it often follows the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew wording. Matthew 1:22-23 says, "Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying," then cites Isaiah 7:14, "Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." That wording matches the Septuagint of Isaiah. The Septuagint does not replace the Hebrew text or create a new gospel; it shows how first-century believers read, translated, and applied the Scriptures they had received.
What the Septuagint actually is
The Septuagint is a collection of Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, along with some books that were not later included in the Hebrew canon. The name comes from the Latin word for seventy, reflecting an ancient tradition that about seventy or seventy-two translators produced the Pentateuch in Alexandria. That story is preserved in the Letter of Aristeas, a document from around the second century BC, though historians debate how much of it is legend. What matters is that by the first century AD, Greek-speaking Jews across the Mediterranean world used these translations in synagogues and in daily reading.
The Septuagint was not a single, uniform project. Different books were translated at different times and by different hands, with varying styles. Some translators stayed close to the Hebrew word order; others wrote in smoother Greek. This variety explains why New Testament citations sometimes match one form of the Greek text and sometimes another. It also means that when we speak of the Septuagint, we are describing a family of manuscripts rather than one fixed edition. Modern critical editions reconstruct the text from many witnesses.
Importantly, the Septuagint is not a Christian invention. It arose from Jewish communities that needed the Scriptures in the common language of the day, much as English-speaking believers today use translations. The translators were not trying to obscure the Hebrew; they were making it accessible. Their work became the Bible of the early church, and it remains a vital witness to how the Old Testament was understood before and during the New Testament period.
Why the New Testament writers quoted it so often
The New Testament authors wrote in Greek, and when they cited the Old Testament, they usually cited the Greek text their readers knew. Matthew 1:22-23 is a clear example. The Hebrew of Isaiah 7:14 uses the word almah, which can mean a young woman of marriageable age; the Septuagint translated it with parthenos, which more specifically means virgin. Matthew quotes that Greek wording because it fits the fulfillment he is announcing. This does not mean the Hebrew is wrong or the Greek is deceptive. It means the translators had already drawn out a legitimate implication of the prophecy.
Luke 4:16-21 records Jesus reading in the synagogue at Nazareth. The passage he reads combines Isaiah 61:1-2 with elements from Isaiah 58, and the wording follows the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew in several places. Jesus reads, sits down, and says the Scripture is fulfilled in the hearing of the congregation. The crowd's reaction shows that they recognized the text and its messianic weight. The Septuagint was not a barrier to recognizing Jesus; it was the very text through which they heard him.
Acts 7:42-43 shows Stephen quoting Amos 5:25-27 in a form that follows the Septuagint and even differs from the Hebrew wording. Stephen's point is not about textual precision but about Israel's long history of idolatry. Hebrews 10:5-7 quotes Psalm 40:6-8 with the striking line, "but you prepared a body for me." The Hebrew reads something closer to "you have opened my ears." The Septuagint's wording allows the author to connect the psalm directly to the incarnation. These examples show that the New Testament writers felt free to use the Greek Scriptures as authoritative Scripture.
The Septuagint and the virgin birth in Matthew 1:22-23
Matthew 1:22-23 is not an isolated proof text. It introduces the account of Jesus's conception and birth, and it interprets the name Immanuel, which means God with us. Matthew's citation follows the Septuagint of Isaiah 7:14, and his readers would have recognized the Greek wording. Some critics argue that Matthew exploited a mistranslation to manufacture a prophecy. That charge assumes the Hebrew almah cannot refer to a virgin, which is too strong; the word can denote a young woman, and in the context of a sign to the house of David, a virginal conception is a coherent reading. The Greek translation made that reading explicit.
It is also worth noting that the Septuagint of Isaiah 7:14 does not stand alone. The wider context of Isaiah 7 involves a sign to King Ahaz in his own day, and the prophecy has a near-term dimension. Matthew sees a greater fulfillment in Jesus. This pattern of near and far fulfillment is common in the prophets and does not depend on the Septuagint. The Greek text simply gives Matthew the wording he uses to announce that the birth of Jesus is the decisive sign of God's presence with his people.
When Christians today read Matthew 1:22-23, they are reading a text that stands at the intersection of Hebrew prophecy and Greek translation. The Septuagint is part of that story. It reminds us that God's word was not confined to one language or one manuscript tradition. The same Spirit who spoke through the prophets also guided the translators and the apostles who quoted them.
Textual differences and what they do not mean
Because the Septuagint sometimes differs from the Hebrew, some readers worry that the Bible has been corrupted or that the New Testament misquotes the Old. The reality is more ordinary. Ancient translations are not photocopies; they are interpretations. A translator may choose a word that clarifies a nuance, smooths a rough phrase, or reflects an earlier Hebrew reading that no longer survives in the manuscripts we have. The Dead Sea Scrolls have shown that the Hebrew text itself existed in several forms in the centuries before Christ. The Septuagint often witnesses to one of those forms.
This means that when a New Testament author follows the Septuagint, he is not necessarily ignoring the Hebrew. He may be quoting the form of the text that was current in his community. He may also be drawing on a Hebrew text that differed slightly from the later Masoretic text. The differences are usually minor and do not affect core doctrines. Where they do touch on meaning, careful study of both the Hebrew and the Greek helps us understand what the author intended.
Christians should not fear these details. The Bible has been transmitted with remarkable care, and the existence of multiple textual traditions is evidence of reverence, not negligence. The Septuagint is one important stream in that transmission. It does not undermine the authority of Scripture; it helps us see how Scripture was read and loved by the first generations of believers.
How the Septuagint shaped early Christian worship and teaching
The early church inherited the Septuagint as its Old Testament. Most of the first Christians were Greek-speaking Jews and Gentiles who gathered in synagogues and house churches where the Greek Scriptures were read aloud. When Paul reasoned with people from the Scriptures, as Acts 17 describes, he was often reasoning from the Septuagint. The sermons in Acts, including Stephen's speech in Acts 7, quote the Greek text. The letter to the Hebrews is saturated with Septuagint citations. This is not a minor detail; it is the soil in which New Testament theology grew.
The Septuagint also gave the church a shared vocabulary for talking about God, salvation, covenant, and law. Words like Christ, church, and gospel have Greek backgrounds that were shaped by how the translators rendered Hebrew terms. When the New Testament authors used these words, they were building on a foundation that Greek-speaking Jews had already laid. The Septuagint helped make the gospel intelligible across the Roman world.
Later, as the church grew and the Hebrew text became more central in some traditions, the Septuagint remained the standard Old Testament for many Greek-speaking Christians. It is still used in Eastern Orthodox churches and is valued by scholars and pastors who want to understand how the New Testament writers read the Old. Its influence on Christian worship, liturgy, and doctrine is difficult to overstate.
Common misconceptions about the Septuagint
One misconception is that the Septuagint is a single, authoritative edition that all Jews accepted. In reality, there was no single fixed Septuagint in the first century. Different communities used different manuscripts and revisions. Another misconception is that the Septuagint is inferior to the Hebrew text. This is a theological judgment, not a historical one. The Hebrew text is the foundation, but the Septuagint is a legitimate ancient witness that the New Testament authors treated as Scripture.
A third misconception is that the Septuagint was created by Christians to support their claims. The evidence points to Jewish origins. The translation of the Pentateuch began centuries before Christ, and the prophets and writings were translated over time. Christians adopted and copied these translations, but they did not invent them. The Letter of Aristeas, Jewish historian Josephus, and Philo of Alexandria all testify to the Jewish use of the Greek Scriptures.
A fourth misconception is that using the Septuagint means ignoring the Hebrew. Faithful study uses both. The Hebrew text is the primary witness to the Old Testament, and the Septuagint is an early translation that helps us understand how the text was read in the centuries leading up to Christ. Together they give us a fuller picture of God's revelation.
How to use the Septuagint wisely in study
For most readers, the Septuagint is not a text to read cover to cover. It is a tool for comparison. When a New Testament passage quotes the Old Testament, it is worth checking whether the wording follows the Hebrew or the Greek. Many study Bibles and online tools make this easy. Noticing the difference can illuminate why the New Testament author chose a particular phrase. Matthew 1:22-23 is a classic case: the Greek word for virgin stands out, and it shapes the way the fulfillment is presented.
The Septuagint also helps when a Hebrew word is rare or ambiguous. The translators lived closer to the biblical world than we do, and their choices often reflect traditional Jewish interpretation. This does not make them infallible, but it makes them valuable. Comparing the Septuagint with the Hebrew can clarify the range of meaning a word might have and how it was understood in the centuries before and after Christ.
Finally, the Septuagint is a reminder that the Bible is a book for all nations. The Old Testament was translated into Greek so that Greek-speaking Jews and later Gentiles could hear God's word. That same impulse drives Bible translation today. Studying the Septuagint can deepen our gratitude for the Scriptures and sharpen our reading of the New Testament's use of the Old.
Biblical fidelity check
The passages supplied here establish that the New Testament writers quoted the Greek Old Testament and treated it as authoritative. Matthew 1:22-23 cites Isaiah 7:14 in a form that matches the Septuagint's parthenos, and Hebrews 10:5-7 uses the Septuagint's wording about a prepared body. These texts do not establish that the Septuagint is superior to the Hebrew Bible, nor do they prove that every Greek reading is original. They show that the apostles used the Scriptures available to them and that the Greek translation was one of those Scriptures.
A common misreading is to claim that Matthew invented a prophecy by relying on a mistranslation. That is wrong because the Hebrew word almah can legitimately refer to a young woman who is a virgin, and the context of Isaiah 7 allows for a virginal conception as a sign. The Greek translation did not create the idea; it made explicit what the Hebrew could already imply. Another misreading is to treat the Septuagint as a Christian forgery. The historical evidence points to Jewish origins, and the New Testament's use of it reflects the church's inheritance, not its invention.
Other passages that speak to Matthew 1:22-23
Several passages help us understand how the New Testament uses the Old. Luke 4:16-21 shows Jesus reading from Isaiah in the synagogue, with wording that follows the Septuagint and announces good news to the poor. Acts 7:42-43 records Stephen quoting Amos in a form that differs from the Hebrew, reminding Israel of its idolatry. Hebrews 10:5-7 applies Psalm 40 to Christ with the Septuagint's phrase about a prepared body. For further study, see What Does Acts 1:6–11 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application, What Does Acts 1:8 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application, Acts 1:9-11 Prophecy: Jesus’s Promised Return from Heaven, and Acts 10: Peter and Cornelius: God Shows No Favoritism. These articles show how the apostles read Scripture and applied it to the life of the early church.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Septuagint in simple terms?
The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, made mostly before the time of Christ for Greek-speaking Jews. It includes the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, and was widely used in synagogues across the Roman world. The New Testament writers often quoted from it because it was the Bible their readers knew. It is not a replacement for the Hebrew text but an ancient translation that helps us understand how the Old Testament was read in the first century.
Why does Matthew 1:22-23 quote the Septuagint instead of the Hebrew?
Matthew wrote in Greek for a Greek-speaking audience, so he naturally quoted the Greek Scriptures they used. The Septuagint of Isaiah 7:14 says the virgin will conceive, which matches the fulfillment Matthew is announcing. The Hebrew word almah can mean a young woman, but the Greek translation made the virginal aspect explicit. Matthew did not invent the prophecy; he cited the form of the text that was current and authoritative for his readers.
Does the Septuagint contradict the Hebrew Bible?
No, the two are not in fundamental conflict. The Septuagint is a translation, and like all translations it sometimes clarifies, sometimes paraphrases, and occasionally reflects a different Hebrew reading. The Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Hebrew text itself had some variety before it was standardized. The differences are usually minor and do not overturn core doctrines. Studying both the Hebrew and the Greek gives a fuller understanding of what the biblical authors meant.
