![[Media/Codex_Vaticanus_(1_Esdras_1-55_to_2-5)_(The_S.S._Teacher's_Edition-The_Holy_Bible).jpg]] *A portion of the Greek Uncial manuscript from the Vatican Library* Alexandria Egypt, around 250 BCE, was a cosmopolitan hub where Greek philosophers, Jewish merchants, and Egyptian priests mingled under Ptolemaic rule. According to a possibly fictitious document called the [Letter of Aristeas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_Aristeas), Egypt's king Ptolemy II Philadelphus commissioned 72 Jewish scholars to translate the *Torah* into Greek for the Library of Alexandria (this is the first historical mention of the famous library). It is more likely that the process of translating the books of what christians call the *Old Testament* was gradual, driven by Hellenized Jews needing scriptures in Koine Greek, the Hellenistic dialect Alexander had spread throughout the lands he had conquered. The *Septuagint*, named for the “seventy” scholars, included the Pentateuch, Prophets, and apocryphal texts like Tobit and Maccabees. The translation made Judaism accessible to Gentiles, enabling Philo of Alexandria to merge monotheism with Platonic and Stoic concepts; equating YHVH with the logos. Early christians would adopt this philosophy, leading to Christian Platonism. Although variations between the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text, revealed by Dead Sea Scrolls, have sparked debates about textual accuracy, the Greek translation was a cultural bridge that broadened the faith’s reach while subtly reshaping it. ----- Next: [[6.10 - Rome]] Back: [[6.8 - Stoicism]]