#2.# Every one who can read the Bible in English must recognize the fact that our Bible is only a translation from the language in which the books of both Testaments were originally written. The original language of the Old Testament is Hebrew with a few sections appearing in the Aramaic tongue; and the New Testament is Greek. Any translator who wishes to give us an English Bible that will be closest to the meaning intended by the original writers, must translate out of those two languages. If any of us has ever attempted to translate a language, he knows how difficult it is to transfer the exact thought of one tongue into another.
#3.# The Hebrew language of the Old Testament is full of picture-thoughts. It is simple in construction, and has a very small number of words in actual use. It was the language of the Hebrew peoples during the time of their national existence, but degenerated into Aramaic some time after their return from the exile. The tremendous expressive power of the language is seen in the great sermons of the prophets, especially Isaiah, and in the poetry of Job and the Psalms.
#4.# The founding and the growth of Alexandria under Greek influence led to an epoch in the history of the Bible. Facilities for trade and other reasons made this city attractive to the Jews. Greek, however, was the prevailing language of the community. Early in the third century B. C. the proportion of Greek-speaking Jews became so large that there was a call for their Scriptures in their adopted tongue. To supply this religious need of the Jews, the Hebrew Bible was translated (about 280-130 B. C.) into the Greek language. This Greek Bible contained all the books of the Hebrew Bible, and several other small books now called "the Apocrypha."
#5.# This Greek Bible, now called the Septuagint ("Seventy"), so named because it was thought to have been translated from the Hebrew by "seventy" men, became the Bible of the Old Testament for the Greek-speaking world. In the time of our Lord it was largely used by the New Testament writers. It was quoted by them, and especially by Paul, almost everywhere. It was the Bible of the early Christian church until the conquest of Rome and the Latin tongue required a translation into Latin. These early Latin translations of the Old Testament were all made from the Septuagint. There were also some scholars in the church who, not being satisfied with the translation of the Septuagint, made translations of their own. These were of some value to scholars, such as that most famous of all Biblical students, Origen (186-254 A. D.) who were trying to construct the best Greek text of the Bible.