Mac Lynch and I wrote “The Septuagint Song” in 2017. Evan Caddy has created a wonderful video in which he sings it with Riley Irwin on piano. They really outdid themselves. Plus, Evan wrote two new verses. I’ve included the video below with the original sheet music as a PDF. You’ll also find the lyrics with Evan’s new verses. Enjoy!
Sheet Music Download
“The Septuagint Song” Sheet Music
The Septuagint Song Lyrics (with Additions)
Three hundred years before the Christ, a great king ruled the land.
A language was the biggest need so all could understand,
so they could share one common tongue. Now man to man could speak,
and Hellenism quickly spread; thus came the Koine Greek.
We call it the Septuagint, the Old Testament in Greek:
the Torah, Writings, Prophets, preserved to exegete.
Translated over centuries by many different men,
twas quoted by apostles much in our New Testament.
Before too long the Jews took note: their Hebrew soon would fade.
They knew they had a desperate need: Greek Bibles must be made!
So Aristeas tells of Ptolemy—his work so great:
On Pharos seventy scholars met to carefully translate.
We call it the Septuagint, the Old Testament in Greek: the Torah,
Writings, Prophets, preserved to exegete.
Translated over centuries by many different men,
twas quoted by apostles much in our New Testament.
The curious nature of these Greek translations are well known;
for differences between the Greek and Hebrew can be shown.
The text might have been changed or simply differently told,
and New Testament quotations might not always match the Old.
We call it the Septuagint, the Old Testament in Greek:
(It also adds some extra books, like Second Maccabees.)
Translated over centuries by many different men,
twas quoted by apostles much in our New Testament.
Now more than twenty centuries have passed since it was made,
but this translation still has great significance today:
as scholarly resource and with liturgical respect,
as sacred book and witness to the ancient Bible text.
We call it the Septuagint, the Old Testament in Greek:
the Torah, Writings, Prophets, preserved to exegete.
Translated over centuries by many different men,
twas quoted by apostles much in our New Testament.
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