This audiobook contains the first five books of the Greek Septuagint (Old Testament) in English. The Greek word Pentateuch (“five books or a bookcase or volume of five”) refers to the first five books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. To the Jews, these five books are also known collectively as The Torah. Traditionally, it is understood that the Pentateuch was written by Moses, except for the last chapter of Deuteronomy, chapter 34, which describes Moses’ death and burial and also describes the handing over of Jewish leadership to Joshua. Moses dies, having never stepped foot into the promised land. The death of Moses is recorded, bringing into question who the writer was that recorded the death of Moses.

Modern scholars seeking to understand the history of the Hebrew Bible use a range of sources, in addition to the Masoretic Text, including early Greek (Septuagint) and Syriac (Peshitta) translations, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls and quotations from rabbinic manuscripts. Many of these sources may be older than the Masoretic Text and often differ from it. These differences have given rise to the theory that yet another text of the Hebrew Bible, once existed and is the source of the versions extant today. However, the earlier text has never been found, and which of the three commonly known versions (Septuagint, Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch) is closest to the earlier text is not fully determined.

The Septuagint Bible was written in the 3rd century B.C., when the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, was translated into Greek. We are unsure of the exact Hebrew text used in the translation from Hebrew to Greek. Some scholars speculate the source could have been different and older than the Masoretic text used in the accepted version today. The name Septuagint derives from the Latin word septuaginta, which means 70. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is called Septuagint because 70 or 72 Jewish scholars reportedly took part in the translation process.

According to a Letter from Aristeas to his brother Philocrates, scholars worked on the project in the city of Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.). Seventy-two Rabbis assembled to translate the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek language. The Jewish world was becoming so Hellenized that Koine Greek was supplanting Hebrew as the language most commonly spoken by the Jewish people.

Aristeas stated that 72 scholars took part in translating the Bible from Hebrew to Greek. These men included six elders for each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Calvin J. Roetzel states in The World That Shaped the New Testament that the original Septuagint only contained the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch was translated first because those books were considered the most important and the source of the laws of God. The Pentateuch chronicles the Israelites from creation to the leave-taking of Moses. The specific books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Later versions of the Septuagint included the other two sections of the Hebrew Bible, Prophets, and Writings.

According to Roetzel, The Septuagint has been the subject of many legends and supposed miracles. It is said that 72 scholars worked independently for 70 days, making 70 separate translations, and all translations agreed in every detail.

The English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible used here is the the translation of the Greek Old Testament Scriptures, including the Apocrypha. It is compiled from the translation by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton 1851.