Ancient translations of the Bible
The oldest translations of the Bible belong to the Second Temple Period which began with the restoration of the Jerusalem Temple in 515 BC and ended in 70 AD by the destruction of this Temple by the Romans. During this period Palestine witnessed the Hellenisation and later became a part of Persia, Hellenistic states of Syria and Egypt and then Rome. The Second Temple period was characterised by the appearance of the synagogue that became the centre of the Jewish community as well as the place where the Sacred Scripture was read. In the course of time such readings started to be provided with interpretation for the Jews gave up their native language in exile and adopted Aramaic. Such interpretations were called targumim. The targumim were characterised by the struggle with anthropomorphism and anthropotheism, historiosophical interpretation of proper names as well as by making additions (aggadot) to the text that were based on folklore. The Greek translation of the Bible was made in this period of time. It was called the Septuagint, or LXX, according to the legend of the 72 Jewish wise men who translated the book for the Library of Alexandria. The Septuagint analysis shows that it was being created in the course of a few centuries, from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. Its purpose is still unclear: some think that the Septuagint was created for liturgic purposes, the others think it a code for the Jewish community. During the Second Temple Period another section of the Bible called the Writings was formed. The Book of Ruth, the Book of Esther, the Book of Lamentations, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and the Book of Proverbs were created. A translation into Syriac (Peshitta) appeared as well as into Latin (Vetus Latina). All of these translations were made from the Septuagint.
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