Sunday, June 16 ~ I love your law.​—Ps. 119:163.

[GrumpysWife]

Sunday, June 16

I love your law.—Ps. 119:163.

 

The first 39 books of the Bible were written by Israelites, or the Jews. They were the people initially “entrusted with the sacred pronouncements of God.” (Rom. 3:1, 2) However, by the third century B.C.E., many Jews no longer understood Hebrew. Why not? Because Alexander the Great had expanded the Grecian Empire by means of his conquests. (Dan. 8:5-7, 20, 21) As that empire spread, Greek became the common language of many of its subjects, including Jews who were scattered over a vast area. But as many Jews became Greek-speaking, understanding the Hebrew Scriptures became more difficult for most. What was the solution? Translation of the Bible from Hebrew into Greek, which was completed in the second century B.C.E. The resulting collection of Bible books came to be known as the Greek Septuagint. The Septuagint is the first known written translation of the entire Hebrew Scriptures. w17.09 20 ¶7-9