Septuagint

In the mid-3rd century BCE, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. The original version, published circa 250 BCE, only included the Torah, or in Greek terms, the Pentateuch. The Torah is the five books traditionally credited to Moses, circa 1500 BCE: Cosmic Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The second edition, which added the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, later dubbed the Octateuch, was published circa 225 BCE, and carried south into Kush by the ancestors of the Beta-Israeli community as they escaped Egypt in the aftermath of the Rebellion in Judea, circa 200 BCE. Around 200 BCE the four books of the Kingdoms and two books of the Paralipomena were added to the Septuagint, along with the two books of Ezra the Scribe. These books spanned the history of the Kingdoms of Samaria and Judah from the conquest of the Israelites until shortly before Alexander’s armies swept across the Persian Empire. The final edition of the Septuagint collection appears to have been published by 132 BCE, although there were appendixes added until for the following two centuries.