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亞歷山大大帝過世之後，希伯來文的妥拉（註一）被翻譯成希臘文。 這是有史以來猶太聖經第一次被翻譯成外語。“Septuagint一字來自拉丁語，字面意思是“70”，羅馬數字為LXX ，中文則翻譯成 “七十士”。這本被翻譯出來的結晶叫做「七十士譯本」，它的背後有一段故事。
根據著名的「阿立斯體亞信札」紀錄（Letter of Aristeas），在埃及托勒密二世法老（Ptolemy II Philadelphus） 統治期間（公元前285-247年），有72位猶太學者被召至亞歷山大城，他們的使命就是要將希伯來文的妥拉翻譯成希臘文。一方面是因為托勒密二世熱愛收藏經典書籍，想多認識猶太律法；另一方面，在希臘化時期，希伯來語經常被通用的希臘語所取代，此項翻譯妥拉大工程因而展開了。「阿立斯體亞信札」上也提到，這72位猶太菁英翻譯人士，不僅個個都博學廣文，而且他們還是從以色列十二個支派中，每支派挑選出六位的優秀猶太拉比學者。「七十士譯本」完成後，廣受希臘人的崇拜與愛戴。除了得到了重賞跟禮物之外，這些猶太學者得到英雄般的讚揚與榮譽。
他們的成就看似是為歷史貢獻了不可磨滅的功績偉業，但猶太人卻為這件事深感不悅與悲哀。他們深信，把上帝原本傳給他們的希伯來文翻譯成外語，對上帝、對妥拉經典、對歷史不只是一大不敬，且是一種背叛與不忠的行為。就如Jay Kelman 拉比所說：「天下沒有準確的翻譯... ... 任何文字的翻譯都無法捕捉原文所包含微妙細膩之差別、韻律或典故。 文字越細緻、層次越多，翻譯就越不完整。」（註二）猶太人後來甚至把這個希臘人認為值得慶祝、輝煌的大日子比喻成Cheit Ha’Eigel （譯為“金牛犢之罪”），就是相譬於當年以色列在西乃山下違背上帝，拜金牛犢一樣的悲劇與不幸（出埃及記32：1-6）。最終，猶太人把「七十士譯本」完成紀念日，列入猶太曆法特維斯月（ Tevet ）的 第8 日，並標記為齋戒日，禁食三日，並稱之為“三日之黑暗”，以紀念妥拉翻譯成希臘文的哀悼日。
為什麼「七十士譯本」會被稱為“三日之黑暗”？ 猶太聖經翻譯後可分享於世人，不是很值得歡心嗎？為什麼這麼好的事件會被視為哀悼日呢？依照 Yirmiyohu Kaganoff 拉比的解釋，在妥拉被翻譯之前，外邦人若想要認識道德真理，只有一個管道—透過猶太人及其經典。除這管道之外，別無其他方法能讓一個人能正規學習到純正的道德經典基礎。 但是一旦妥拉被翻譯後，任何非猶太人就以為，只要他用自己思維去理解翻譯本所傳述的內容就是正確的，大可不必用心從猶太原文經典那裡學習。 但因為翻譯本本身之缺陷，有許多無法避免的是非扭曲及解釋，導致這些非猶太人因翻譯本而走偏了，自己卻完全不知道。這對猶太人而言，真是徹頭徹尾的悲劇。他們看到許多人因「七十士譯本」，錯誤地將他們的信心建立在那不真實、虛幻的信仰上，世界因此陷入了三天的黑暗。沉痛之餘，猶太人禁食哀痛，並稱之為“三日之黑暗”（註三）。
雖然「阿立斯體亞信札」對七十士翻譯過程有詳細的記載，但有人質疑這信札的可信度。事實上，這個信札被許多古人廣泛證實，包括名聲顯赫的猶太歷史學家，約瑟夫斯 (Flavius Josephus公元37年-100年) 及猶太哲學政治家，斐洛(Philo of Alexandria 約公元前25年-45年)，他們皆對這個信札內容有相當多的討論和引用。
令人惋惜的是，「七十士譯本」原稿今天已不復存在， 我們現有的「七十士譯本」不是最原始的五卷妥拉。現代「七十士譯本」包含了一整本塔納赫（舊約聖經全部39卷，註四），而且它已被翻譯成各國語言。其實許多人一聽到「七十士譯本」，就馬上認為它一定是被公認的權威，殊不知我們今天手中的「七十士譯本」是後來的人把摩西五經之後的書卷繼續翻完，這個“現代版”與那本原著的「七十士譯本」不相同。每當新約與猶太人的塔納赫 不完全一致時，七十士譯本就被用作一張“安全網”，認為只要遵循原來的“七十士譯本”就等於是忠實原文。事實上真正的“七十士譯本”只包含了摩西五經—創世記、出埃及記、利未記、民數記申命記。其餘的都是後人添加上去的。
註一：妥拉（Torah），又稱Pentateuch「摩西五經」，就是舊約聖經的頭五本書──創世記、出埃及記、利未記、民數記及申命記
註四 “塔納赫”，基督徒稱之為“舊約聖經” (參部落格：舊約聖經=希伯來聖經=塔納赫？）
Septuagint
After the death of Alexander the Great, the Hebrew text of the Torah (note 1) was translated into Greek. This marked the first time in history that the Jewish Bible was translated into a foreign language.
The term "Septuagint" originates from Latin, where it literally means "seventy" and is represented in Roman numerals as LXX. It is translated in Chinese as "七十士" (Seventy Scholars). The resulting translation is referred to as the "Septuagint," and there is an interesting story associated with it.
According to the well-known "Letter of Aristeas" record (Note: a literary work composed in Greek that narrates the legendary origins of the Septuagint.), during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Egyptian Pharaoh (285-247 BCE), 72 Jewish scholars were summoned to Alexandria. Their mission was to translate the Hebrew Torah into Greek. One reason for this was Ptolemy II's love for collecting classic texts, including a desire to gain a deeper understanding of Jewish law. Additionally, During the Hellenistic era, Hebrew was frequently replaced by the commonly used Greek language, prompting the need for the significant translation project. This letter also mentions that these 72 Jewish elite translators were not only highly knowledgeable but were selected from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, with six distinguished Jewish rabbinical scholars from each tribe. After the completion of the Septuagint, in addition to receiving substantial rewards and gifts, these Jewish scholars received heroic praise and honor.
Their accomplishment may seem like an enduring contribution to history, but it deeply saddened and distressed the Jewish people. They had a strong belief that translating the original Hebrew text, a divine gift from God, into a foreign language was not only a sign of disrespect towards God, the Torah, and history, but also an act of betrayal and disloyalty. As Rabbi Jay Kelman put it, "There is no such thing as a perfect translation...No translation of any text can capture the nuance, the cadence, or the allusions contained in the original text. The more nuanced and layered the text, the more incomplete the translation will be." (Note: Refer to Rabbi Jay Kelman's "The Fast of the Eighth of Tevet: Lost in Translation) Jewish people even likened the day that Greeks celebrated as the completion of the Septuagint to the "Chet Ha'Eigel" (translated as the "Sin of the Golden Calf"), a tragedy and misfortune akin to the Israelites' worship of the golden calf at the base of Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1-6). Ultimately, Jews designated the commemoration of the completion of the Septuagint as the 8th day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, marking it as a fast day known as "Three Days of Darkness" to mourn the translation of the Torah into Greek.
Why is the Septuagint referred to as the "Three Days of Darkness"? Shouldn't the translation of the Jewish Bible for the world be a cause for celebration? Why is this positive event viewed as a day of mourning? According to Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff's explanation, before the translation of the Torah, the only way for non-Jewish individuals to understand moral truths was through the Jewish people and their scriptures. There was no other means for someone to legitimately study the foundational moral texts. However, once the Torah was translated, non-Jews thought that they could simply interpret the translated content with their own thinking, without the need to learn from the Jewish original texts. Because of inherent deficiencies in the translated text, many unavoidable distortions and interpretations occurred, leading these non-Jews astray without their realization. This was a profound tragedy for the Jewish people. They saw that due to the Septuagint, many individuals mistakenly placed their faith in an unreal, illusory belief, causing the world to enter three days of darkness. In their deep sorrow, the Jewish people fasted and termed it the "Three Days of Darkness" (Note: Refer to Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff's "Special Days of Teves").
While there have been questions about the credibility of the Letter of Aristeas regarding the detailed account of the seventy translators, it's worth noting that many ancient authorities, including the renowned Jewish historian Josephus (Flavius Josephus, 37-100 CE) and the Jewish philosopher-politician Philo of Alexandria (circa 25 BCE - 45 CE), have extensively discussed and referenced the contents of this letter, lending considerable weight to its authenticity.
Unfortunately, the original manuscript of the Septuagint no longer exists today. The modern Septuagint we have includes the entire Tanakh (or Old Testament, all 39 books: Please refer to my blog Post: What is the Difference between the Old Testament, the Tanakh and the Hebrew Bible?), and it has been translated into various languages. Many people often assume that the Septuagint is a recognized authority when they hear the term. However, what we have today as the Septuagint is a later compilation where individuals continued translating books beyond the first five books of Moses, making it different from the original Septuagint. Whenever there are discrepancies between the New Testament and the Jewish Tanakh, the Septuagint is used as a kind of "safety net," as if following the original Septuagint is equivalent to remaining faithful to the original text. In reality, the true Septuagint only contained the first five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The rest were added by later generations.
Note 1: Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, comprises the first five books of the Old Testament Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
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