Letter of Aristeas

The Letter of Aristeas or Letter to Philocrates is a Hellenistic work of the 2nd century BCE, assigned by Biblical scholars to the Pseudepigrapha. Josephus who paraphrases about two-fifths of the letter, ascribes it to Aristeas and to have been written to a certain Philocrates, describing the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law by seventy-two interpreters sent into Egypt from Jerusalem at the request of the librarian of Alexandria, resulting in the Septuagint translation. Though some have argued that its story of the creation of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is fictitious, it is the earliest text to mention the Library of Alexandria.

Letter of Aristeas

The Letter of Aristeas or Letter to Philocrates is a Hellenistic work of the 2nd century BCE, assigned by Biblical scholars to the Pseudepigrapha. Josephus who paraphrases about two-fifths of the letter, ascribes it to Aristeas and to have been written to a certain Philocrates, describing the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law by seventy-two interpreters sent into Egypt from Jerusalem at the request of the librarian of Alexandria, resulting in the Septuagint translation. Though some have argued that its story of the creation of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is fictitious, it is the earliest text to mention the Library of Alexandria.