|
|

Sep 17th, 2006, 05:12 PM
Simply put, Jews reject the Septuagint, rarely consider the Apocrypha. Obviously, you would have to apply the Christian notion of religion and religious text to Judaism for it to be relevant. Hellenistic Jews translated the works from the Babylonians, so that Jews could still worship even after losing their Hebraic tradition at the hands of persecution. Jews started to rethink the usage of translated works once Christians started to use them as primary versions, above what was believed to be the more pure Hebrew sources. The "Passover scroll" of the Elephantine papyri, which contains detailed instructions on how to celebrate the Pesakh holiday in accordance with the Torah, is dated around 400 BCE, and it is by no means the earliest such source. The oldest Sh'ma prayer exists on copper plates from the 9th Century BCE. The oldest physical Torah fragments are from around the 3rd or 4th Century BCE. They were transcribed from Hebrew to Aramaic since the goal was to be understood.
|
|
|
|