Chronological timeline of texts tagged with Pre-Christian Septuagint Usage
About This Tag
Several Hellenistic-Jewish texts demonstrate reliance on the Septuagint (LXX) rather than the Hebrew Bible, indicating its widespread use within these Jewish communities centuries before the Christian era. Writings such as the Book of Wisdom, the works of Philo of Alexandria, and certain Dead Sea Scrolls fragments reflect linguistic and theological influences from the Greek translation, suggesting it was a well-established and authoritative text in the Hellenistic world. These sources show that the Septuagint was not uniquely Christian but played a significant role in Jewish thought and textual traditions before the emergence of Christianity.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to TagLXX Genesis 2:7 / Wisdom of Solomon 7:1
3rd Century B.C.E.
LXX Genesis 2:7
Septuagint
6 yet a spring would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the earth. 7 And God formed man, dust from the earth, and breathed into his face a breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 And the Lord God planted an orchard in Edem toward the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
100-50 B.C.E.
Wisdom of Solomon 7:1
Deuterocanon
1 I also am mortal, like everyone else, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth; and in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, 2 within the period of ten months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage. 3 And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth; my first sound was a cry, as is true of all.
3rd Century B.C.E.
LXX Exodus 15:3
Septuagint
1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to God and they said, saying, “Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously glorified; horse and rider he has cast into the sea.” 2 He has become a helper and protector to me for salvation; this is my God, and I will honor him, God of my father, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord who shatters wars, the Lord is his name 4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his forces he has cast into the sea. Select riders, officers standing on the chariots, were swallowed up in the Red Sea. 5 In the open sea he covered them; they sank into the deep like a stone.
150-100 B.C.E.
Judith 16:2
Deuterocanon
1 And Judith said, Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord with cymbals. Raise to him a new psalm; exalt him, and call upon his name. 2 For the Lord is a God who shatters wars; he sets up his camp among his people; he delivered me from the hands of my pursuers. 3 The Assyrian came down from the mountains of the north; he came with myriads of his warriors; their numbers blocked up the wadis, and their cavalry covered the hills. 4 He boasted that he would burn up my territory, and kill my young men with the sword, and dash my infants to the ground, and seize my children as booty, and take my virgins as spoil.
3rd Century B.C.E.
LXX Exodus 15:3
Septuagint
1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to God and they said, saying, “Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously glorified; horse and rider he has cast into the sea.” 2 He has become a helper and protector to me for salvation; this is my God, and I will honor him, God of my father, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord who shatters wars, the Lord is his name 4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his forces he has cast into the sea. Select riders, officers standing on the chariots, were swallowed up in the Red Sea. 5 In the open sea he covered them; they sank into the deep like a stone.
150-100 B.C.E.
Judith 9:7
Deuterocanon
5 "For you have done these things and those that went before and those that followed. You have designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. What you had in mind has happened; 6 the things you decided on presented themselves and said, "Here we are!' For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgment is with foreknowledge. 7 "Here now are the Assyrians, a greatly increased force, priding themselves in their horses and riders, boasting in the strength of their foot soldiers, and trusting in shield and spear, in bow and sling. They do not know that you are the Lord who shatters wars; the Lord is your name. 8 Break their strength by your might, and bring down their power in your anger; for they intend to defile your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where your glorious name resides, and to break off the horns of your altar with the sword. 9 Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me, a widow, the strong hand to do what I plan.
3rd Century B.C.E.
LXX Numbers 11:7
Septuagint
5 We remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt without cost and the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. 6 But now our soul is parched; our eyes are nothing but into the manna.” 7 Now the manna is like coriander seed, and its appearance is the appearance of hoarfrost. 8 And the people would go through and gather it and would grind it between the millstones and crush it in the mortar and would boil it in the earthen pot and form it into loafs, and the taste of it was like the taste of a wafer with olive oil. 9 And whenever the dew descended on the encampment during the night, the manna would come down on it.
100-50 B.C.E.
Wisdom of Solomon 16:22
Deuterocanon
20 Instead of these things you gave your people food of angels, and without their toil you supplied them from heaven with bread ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste. 21 For your sustenance manifested your sweetness toward your children; and the bread, ministering to the desire of the one who took it, was changed to suit everyone's liking. 22 Snow and ice withstood fire without melting, so that they might know that the crops of their enemies were being destroyed by the fire that blazed in the hail and flashed in the showers of rain; 23 whereas the fire, in order that the righteous might be fed, even forgot its native power. 24 For creation, serving you who made it, exerts itself to punish the unrighteous, and in kindness relaxes on behalf of those who trust in you.
1st Century B.C.E.
LXX Psalm 77:25
Septuagint
23 And he commanded the clouds from above, and he opened the doors of the heavens. 24 And he rained for them manna to eat, and he gave bread of the heavens for them. 25 A person ate bread of angels. He sent provision for them in excess. 26 And he lifted up the south wind from the heavens, and he brought the southwest wind in his power. 27 And he rained meat upon them as the dust and winged birds as sand of the seas.
100-50 B.C.E.
Wisdom of Solomon 16:20
Deuterocanon
18 At one time the flame was restrained, so that it might not consume the creatures sent against the ungodly, but that seeing this they might know that they were being pursued by the judgment of God; 19 and at another time even in the midst of water it burned more intensely than fire, to destroy the crops of the unrighteous land. 20 Instead of these things you gave your people food of angels, and without their toil you supplied them from heaven with bread ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste. 21 For your sustenance manifested your sweetness toward your children; and the bread, ministering to the desire of the one who took it, was changed to suit everyone's liking. 22 Snow and ice withstood fire without melting, so that they might know that the crops of their enemies were being destroyed by the fire that blazed in the hail and flashed in the showers of rain;
1st Century B.C.E.
LXX Ecclesiastes 8:15
Septuagint
13 And there is nothing good for the ungodly, and he will not prolong his days in shadow who is not fearful before God’s face. 14 There is a futility that has been done on the earth, that there are righteous people that it happens upon them as the action of the wicked; and there are the ungodly that it happens to them as the action of the righteous. I said that even also this is futility. 15 And I praised, together, merriment, as there is nothing good for humanity under the sun except to eat and drink and make merry; and it shall be there with him in his labor of the days of his life, for as many as God gave him under the sun. The One Fate of the Righteous and the Wicked 16 Among which things I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the distraction that has been done on the earth, for also in the day and the night there is no one who sees sleep for his eyes;
225-175 B.C.E.
Tobit 7:10
Deuterocanon
8 His wife Edna also wept for him, and their daughter Sarah likewise wept. 9 Then Raguel slaughtered a ram from the flock and received them very warmly. When they had bathed and washed themselves and had reclined to dine, Tobias said to Raphael, "Brother Azariah, ask Raguel to give me my kinswoman Sarah." 10 But Raguel overheard it and said to the lad, "Eat and drink, and be merry tonight. For no one except you, brother, has the right to marry my daughter Sarah. Likewise I am not at liberty to give her to any other man than yourself, because you are my nearest relative. But let me explain to you the true situation more fully, my child.
1st Century B.C.E.
LXX Isaiah 3:10
Septuagint
8 because Ierousalem has been abandoned and Judea has fallen and their tongues are joined with lawlessness, being disobedient toward the things of the Lord; now therefore their glory has been brought low. 9 And the shame of their face has risen up against them; they have proclaimed their sin like that of Sodoma, and they have made it plain. Woe to their soul! Because they have given evil counsel against themselves, 10 saying, “Let us bind the just, for he is a nuisance to us.” Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their works. 11 Woe to the lawless one! Evil things will happen to him according to the works of his hands. 12 O my people, your exactors strip you clean, and your creditors lord it over you. O my people, those who congratulate you mislead you and confuse the path of your feet.
100-50 B.C.E.
Wisdom of Solomon 2:12
Deuterocanon
10 Let us oppress the righteous poor man; let us not spare the widow or regard the gray hairs of the aged. 11 But let our might be our law of right, for what is weak proves itself to be useless. 12 "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. 13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. 14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;