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When was the Septuagint translated into Greek?

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Gutenberg Bible — biblical literature Two-page spread of the Book of Ecclesiastes from Johannes Gutenberg's 42-line Bible, c. 1450–55.

The Septuagint was not translated at a single moment in time; rather, its creation was a gradual process that spanned over a century.1

Linguistic analysis indicates that the Torah, or Pentateuch, was translated first, likely by a group of scholars in Alexandria around the middle of the 3rd century BCE. The remaining books of the Old Testament were translated subsequently during the 2nd century BCE.21

While legends—such as those found in the Letter of Aristeas—claim the translation was commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus and completed by 72 scholars working in miraculous unison, these accounts are considered historically unreliable. Because the work was produced in stages by different translators, the resulting text is not stylistically uniform.21