Letter of Aristeas

E37290

Hellenistic Jewish text ancient Greek prose work pseudepigraphal work

The Letter of Aristeas is a Hellenistic Jewish pseudepigraphal work that narrates the legendary origins of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
Epistle of Aristeas	1
Hellenistic Jewish literature	1
Pseudepigrapha	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Hellenistic Jewish text ⓘ ancient Greek prose work ⓘ pseudepigraphal work ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Letter of Aristeas ⓘ surface form: Epistle of Aristeas
associatedWith	Tanakh ⓘ surface form: Hebrew Bible Library of Alexandria ⓘ Ptolemaic Kingdom ⓘ surface form: Ptolemaic dynasty Septuagint ⓘ Torah ⓘ
claimsNumberOfTranslators	70 ⓘ 72 ⓘ
claimsToBeAddressedTo	Philocrates ⓘ
dateOfComposition	3rd–2nd century BCE ⓘ
describes	Ptolemaic Kingdom ⓘ surface form: court of Ptolemaic Egypt legendary origins of the Septuagint ⓘ Library of Alexandria ⓘ surface form: library of Alexandria translation of the Torah into Greek ⓘ
describesEvent	commissioning of Greek translation of the Law ⓘ sending of Jewish elders from Jerusalem to Alexandria ⓘ
featuresCharacter	Eleazar the priest ⓘ surface form: Eleazar the high priest Ptolemy II Philadelphus ⓘ seventy-two translators ⓘ
genre	apologetic literature ⓘ epistolary narrative ⓘ historical romance ⓘ
influenced	later accounts of the origin of the Septuagint ⓘ
language	Greek ⓘ Koine Greek ⓘ
literaryTradition	Hellenistic Judaism ⓘ
mainSubject	Jewish law and customs ⓘ origin of the Septuagint ⓘ relations between Jews and Hellenistic rulers ⓘ translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek ⓘ
narratorRole	courtier of Ptolemy II Philadelphus ⓘ
placeOfOrigin	Alexandria ⓘ
preservedIn	Christian manuscript tradition ⓘ
purportedAuthor	Aristeas ⓘ
religiousTradition	Judaism ⓘ
scholarlyAssessment	considered important for understanding Hellenistic Judaism ⓘ not considered historically reliable in detail ⓘ
setting	Alexandria ⓘ Ptolemaic Kingdom ⓘ surface form: Ptolemaic Egypt
theme	divine inspiration of the Septuagint ⓘ harmony between Jewish and Greek culture ⓘ praise of Jewish law ⓘ universal wisdom of the Torah ⓘ
title	Letter of Aristeas self-link ⓘ
usedBy	Church Fathers ⓘ early Christian authors ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Letter of Aristeas → alsoKnownAs → Letter of Aristeas ⓘ

this entity surface form: Epistle of Aristeas

Hellenistic Jews → notableWork → Letter of Aristeas ⓘ

Second Temple Judaism → producedText → Letter of Aristeas ⓘ

this entity surface form: Pseudepigrapha

Letter of Aristeas → title → Letter of Aristeas self-link ⓘ

Books of the Maccabees → tradition → Letter of Aristeas ⓘ

this entity surface form: Hellenistic Jewish literature