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Upon the death of Alexander in 332 B.C., one of his generals, named Ptolemy Lagus, took over Egypt as King [[Ptolemy I Soter]] (literally, "Ptolemy the Savior"). This king built, among other things, the [[Great Library of Alexandria]], which he intended to be a major research center throughout the [[Mediterranean]] region.

Upon the death of Alexander in 332 B.C., one of his generals, named Ptolemy Lagus, took over Egypt as King [[Ptolemy I Soter]] (literally, "Ptolemy the Savior"). This king built, among other things, the [[Great Library of Alexandria]], which he intended to be a major research center throughout the [[Mediterranean]] region.

He continued the generally tolerant policy toward the [[Judaism|Jews]] that Alexander had observed since the priests at [[Jerusalem]] had surrendered to him. His successor [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] (r. 285-246 BC) continued that policy. In his effort to make the Great Library the best center of learning in the known world, Ptolemy Philadelphus sought to translate the Old Testament from [[Hebrew]] into Greek.<ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0840412.html Ptolemy II] at Infoplease.com</ref> Sadly, his staff found Hebrew to be a difficult language to understand, and were not sure of the meanings of several turns of phrase found in the Hebrew text. So Ptolemy appointed a team of seventy scholars, each fluent in Hebrew and in Greek, and assigned to them the task of translating the Hebrew text.<ref>[[Will Durant|Durant, Will]], ''The Story of Civilization, Volume 2: The Life of Greece''. ISBN 1567310133</ref>

He continued the generally tolerant policy toward the [[Judaism|Jews]] that Alexander had observed since the priests at [[Jerusalem]] had surrendered to him. His successor [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] (r. 285-246 BC) continued that policy. In his effort to make the Great Library the best center of learning in the known world, Ptolemy Philadelphus sought to translate the Old Testament from [[Hebrew]] into Greek.<ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0840412.html Ptolemy II] at Infoplease.com</ref> Sadly, his staff found Hebrew to be a difficult language to understand, and were not sure of the meanings of several turns of phrase found in the Hebrew text. So Ptolemy appointed a team of seventy scholars, each fluent in Hebrew and in Greek, and assigned to them the task of translating the Hebrew text.<ref>[[Will Durant|Durant, Will]], ''The Story of Civilization, Volume 2: The Life of Greece''. ISBN 1567310133</ref> Supposedly all of the translators worked independently and arrived at the same exact translation, thus demonstrating that the translated text was as divinely inspired as the original.

The result is a work produced largely by scholarly consensus and was the primary translation in Palestine at the time of Jesus. The [[Gospels]], [[Paul]], [[Epistle of James|James]], [[Peter]], [[Jude]], and the author of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] quoted from the Septuagint often in their respective writings.

The result is a work produced largely by scholarly consensus and was the primary translation in Palestine at the time of Jesus. The [[Gospels]], [[Paul]], [[Epistle of James|James]], [[Peter]], [[Jude]], and the author of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] quoted from the Septuagint often in their respective writings.