“... On the other hand, while the number 'seventy-two', deriving from Aristeas, is original, the widespread use of the number 'seventy' because of such pertinent contexts as the seventy elders at Sinai (Exod. 24:1, 9), the seventy elders co-opted by God to help Moses in administering the Law (Num. 11:16), the seventy members of the Sanhedrin, and the seventy apostles of Jesus (Luke 10:1, 17 —where, it should be noted, some ancient sources offer 'seventy-two'), could readily have influenced the use of the number 'seventy' in connection with the Septuagint to the point where it became a popular alternate term for 'seventy-two' — without, however, contradicting in the least the original number, or the account, in Aristeas. This is borne out, for example, in Josephus (Antiquities XII); after mentioning, specifically, no less than three times 'six elders from each tribe' (xii.39, 49, 56), Josephus proceeds immediately (xii.57; cf. XII.86) with the statement: 'But I have not thought it necessary to report the names of the seventy [sic!] elders who were sent by Eleazar and brought the Law, their names being set down at the end of the letter'. ...”