The Lexham English Septuagint, Alternate Texts

One of the new resources released with Logos 5 (and available in collections from Bronze up, and also in the Minimal Crossgrade) is the Lexham English Septuagint. And now we’re happy to inform you that an associated resource, the Lexham English Septuagint: Alternate Texts, is ready.

The Lexham English Septuagint (LES) is a new English translation of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures). It uses the Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint as a starting point, creating a literal but readable translation.

Now, one of the things we’ve learned about translations of the Bible over, say, the past 40 years is that, well, there are a lot of translations. We have the KJV, the NASB, the NIV, the NRSV, the LEB, the CEB, and all sorts of other translations in English.

There were also a lot of translations back in the days when the Septuagint originated, and we have knowledge of some of these different translations. One of them, known as the Theodotion edition, evidences itself in a different edition of the book of Daniel. Theodotion’s Daniel, while having much the same content as what is known as the “Old Greek” edition of Daniel, simply says it in different ways. So much so that we know that these aren’t really transmission variations, but translation variations. Sort of like how the NIV and NASB both have different English words for Daniel (in most places) but are translating the same material.

The Lexham English Septuagint: Alternate Texts (LES:AT) resource includes Theodotion’s version of Daniel, as well as the additions to Daniel: Susanna, Bel, and the Dragon (yep, dragon!), the Prayer of Azariah, and the Song of Three Youths. The Prayer of Azariah and Song of Three Youths are traditionally inserted in Daniel 3, making the Septuagint version of Daniel 3 exactly 100 verses long in the LES!

The LES:AT also includes an alternative version of Tobit, which is found in Codex Sinaiticus. Again, it is largely the same story, just a different translation.

The work on these books was not complete when Logos 5 and the LES were initially released. It has since been completed. Folks who have upgraded to Logos 5 packages that include the LES are already licensed for the Additional Texts volume. You should receive it soon, if not already, as an automatic download.