The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which starts this Sunday night, celebrates the triumph of a small Jewish army over Greek rule in Judea in the second century B.C. The Maccabees, as they are called, were determined to resist Hellenization and worship as they believed.
But the struggle was more than local. The Septuagint, the first major translation of the Hebrew Bible, was under way in Egypt. That rendition into Greek, commissioned by the Jewish community of Alexandria, Egypt, helped spark the millennia-long struggle to hold on to the meaning of the Bible, no matter the language. Though the Alexandrians’ goal was to preserve the Bible for future generations of Jews, the Septuagint became a foundational text of Christianity.
For centuries, the Septuagint was the dominant translation in Western culture, ultimately influencing even the King James Bible. But many Jews weren’t keen on translating their holy book: One ancient source calls for a fast on the anniversary of the Septuagint’s publication, saying that when it appeared, “darkness descended on the world for three days.”
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Author: Aviya Kushner
Keywords: Name, Bible name, Adam, Eve, Adam Eve, Zoe, Hebrew names, Jewish name, Septuagint, Hellenization, Hellenism, Maccabees, Maccabee hammer, Adam earth, Adam means earth, Abram's new name, New name, Given a new name, Jacob's new name, Meaning of name
Bible reference(s): Genesis 2:23, Genesis 4:25, Genesis 4:26, Genesis 5:29, Genesis 19:37, Genesis 19:38, Genesis 25:25, Genesis 29:32, Genesis 29:33, Genesis 29:35, Genesis 30:6, Genesis 30:8, Genesis 30:11, Genesis 30:13, Genesis 30:18, Genesis 30:20, Genesis 30:24, Genesis 35:18, Genesis 38:3, Genesis 38:4, Genesis 38:5, Exodus 2:22, Judges 8:31, Judges 13:24, 1 Samuel 1:20, 2 Samuel 12:24, 2 Samuel 12:25, 1 Chronicles 4:9, 1 Chronicles 7:16, 1 Chronicles 7:23, Matthew 1:25, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:60, John 1:42
Source: “The Lost Meanings of Biblical Names,” Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4, 2015.
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