- published: 25 Jan 2011
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The Septuagint ( /ˈsɛptjuːəˌdʒɪnt/), or simply "LXX", or the "Greek Old Testament", is a translation into Koine Greek of the Christian Old Testament. It incorporates the oldest of several ancient translations of the Old Testament, Biblical apocrypha and Deuterocanonical books. The LXX is referred to in critical works by the abbreviation Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathfrak{G} or G.
Septuagint was originally the designation for the Jewish Torah translated into Koine Greek, the lingua franca of the Eastern Mediterranean from the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE) until the development of Byzantine Greek (c.600 CE). Some early pre-Christian Jewish versions of the Septuagint, were held in great respect in ancient times; Philo, the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, and Josephus, the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian, ascribed divine inspiration to the Jewish translators. But since Late Antiquity, once attributed to a Council of Jamnia, mainstream rabbinical Judaism rejected the Septuagint as valid Jewish scriptural texts because of what were ascertained as mistranslations along with its Hellenistic heretical elements, preferring the Masoretic tradition of Hebrew texts. As a result, early Jewish translations of the Torah into Koine Greek by Jewish Rabbanim have survived as rare fragments only.
Henry (Hillel) Abramson is the Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch (Touro College South). He is also currently the interim Chair of Judaic Studies there.
Henry Abramson was born and raised in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. He received his doctorate in history from the University of Toronto. He was Assistant Professor of History/Jewish Studies at Florida Atlantic University from 2002–2006 and during that time held appointments at a number of institutions including Oxford University, Cornell University, Harvard University, and Hebrew University. While teaching at Hebrew University, he simultaneously attended a class with Rabbi Mendel Weinbach at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem. In 2006, Abramson moved to his current position at Touro College South.
Henry Abramson is largely known for his scholarship in Ukrainian Jewish history and antisemitic iconography. However, at the 40th Association of Jewish Studies Conference, Abramson chose to deliver a paper which reflected on his interest in the work of David Weiss Halivni and Joshua Rubinstein as regards the savoraim.