Philadelphus..., being a sovereign of this character, and having conceived a great admiration for and love of the legislation of Moses, conceived the idea of having our laws translated into the Greek language; and immediately he sent out ambassadors to the high-priest and king of Judea, for they were the same person. And having explained his wishes, and having requested him to pick him out a number of men, of perfect fitness for the task, who should translate the law, the high-priest, as was natural, being greatly pleased, and thinking that the king had only felt the inclination to undertake a work of such a character from having been influenced by the providence of God, considered, and with great care selected the most respectable of the Hebrews whom he had about him, who in addition to their knowledge of their national scriptures, had also been well instructed in Grecian literature, and cheerfully sent them....
On which account, even to this very day, there is every year a solemn assembly held and a festival celebrated in the island of Pharos, to which not only the Jews but a great number of persons of other nations sail across, reverencing the place in which the first light of interpretation shone forth, and thanking God for that ancient piece of beneficence which was always young and fresh.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Even with regard to Torah scrolls, the Sages permitted them to be written only in Greek. Torah scrolls written in any other language do not have the sanctity of a Torah scroll.
The mishna cites that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Even with regard to Torah scrolls, the Sages permitted them to be written only in Greek. Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the reason for the opinion of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel? He based his opinion on an allusion in the Torah, as the verse states: “God shall enlarge Japheth, and He shall dwell in the tents of Shem” (Genesis 9:27), indicating that the words of Japheth shall be in the tents of Shem. The language of Javan, who is the forbear of the Greek nation and one of the descendants of Japheth, will also serve as a sacred language in the tents of Shem, where Torah is studied.
(יט) אֵין כּוֹתְבִין תְּפִלִּין וּמְזוּזָה אֶלָּא בִּכְתָב אַשּׁוּרִית. וְהִתִּירוּ בַּסְּפָרִים לִכְתֹּב אַף בִּיוָנִי בִּלְבַד. וּכְבָר נִשְׁקַע יְוָנִי מִן הָעוֹלָם וְנִשְׁתַּבֵּשׁ וְאָבַד לְפִיכָךְ אֵין כּוֹתְבִין הַיּוֹם שְׁלָשְׁתָּן אֶלָּא אַשּׁוּרִית.
(19) Phylacteries and Mezuzoth may only be written in square Hebrew script. Permission was also given to write scrolls of the Law in Greek characters but not in those of any other foreign tongue. The ancient Greek script has gone out of use, been corrupted and become obsolete. Hence, at the present day, all three religious articles,—Scroll of the Law, Tephillin and Mezuzah,—are only written in the square Hebrew script.
תלמוד ירושלמי מסכת מגילה פרק א הלכה ט
תני בר קפרא יפת א-להים ליפת וישכן באהלי שם שיהו מדברין בלשונו של יפת באוהלו של שם...
תני רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר אף בספרים לא התירו שיכתבו אלא יונית בדקו ומצאו שאין התורה יכולה להיתרגם כל צורכה אלא יוונית
Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:9
Bar Kappara taught: “God should enlarge Yefet (yaft), and he shall dwell in the tent of Shem” (Gen. 9:27) – that they should speak the language of Yefet in the tent of Shem…
Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel taught: even for [Torah] scrolls they only allowed them to be written in Greek. They checked and found that the Torah can only be translated fully properly (כל צורכה ) into Greek.
(ח) אין כותבין עברית ולא מדית ולא עילמת ולא יונית שבעים זקנים כתבו התורה לתלמי המלך כתיבה יונית והיה אותו היום קשה לישראל כיום שעשו את העגל שלא היתה תורה יכולה להתרגם כל צרכה:
(ז) מעשה בה׳ זקנים שכתבו לתלמי המלך את התורה יונית והיה היום קשה לישראל כיום שנעשה העגל שלא היתה התורה יכולה להתרגם כל צרכה:
.מגילת תענית בתרא
בשמונה בטבת נכתבה תורה בימי תלמי המלך יוונית והחשך בא לעולם שלשה ימים.
The Latter Megillat Ta’anit
On the eighth of Tevet, the Torah was written in Greek in the days of King Ptolemy, and darkness came to the world for three days
III. The "Changes" Tradition and Differences from the Masoretic Text
(א) לתלמי. נ"ב נ"ל שזהו בן לאגע:
(ח) שוב מעשה בתלמי המלך שכנס ע"ב זקנים והושיבם בשבעים ושנים בתים ולא גלה להם על מה כנסם נכנס לכל אחד ואחד מהם אמר להם כתבו לי תורת משה רבכם. נתן המקום עצה בלב כל אחד ואחד והסכימה דעתן לדעת אחת וכתבו לו תורה בפני עצמה: וי"ג דבר שינו בה. ואלו הן אלהים ברא בראשית (בראשית א) ויאמר אלהים אעשה אדם בצלם ובדמות (שם) ויכל בששי וישבות בשביעי (שם ב) זכר ונקבה בראו (שם ה) הבה ארדה ואבלה שם (שם יא) ותשחק בקרוביה לאמר (שם יח) כי באפם הרגו איש וברצונם עקרו אבוס (שם מט) ויקח משה את אישתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על נושאי אדם (שמות ד) ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו בארץ מצרים ובארץ כנען שלשים שנה וארבע מאות שנה (שם יב) ואל זאטוטי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו (שם כד) לא חמד אחד מהם נשאתי (במדבר טז) את צעירת הרגלים (ויקרא יא דברים יד) אשר חלק ה׳ אלהיך אתם להאיר לכל העמים תחת כל השמים (דברים ד) אשר לא צויתי לעבדם (שם יז):
(א) בתלמי. נ"ב זהו פילאדילפו:
The Gemara continues: And this was due to the incident of King Ptolemy, as it is taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving King Ptolemy of Egypt, who assembled seventy-two Elders from the Sages of Israel, and put them into seventy-two separate rooms, and did not reveal to them for what purpose he assembled them, so that they would not coordinate their responses. He entered and approached each and every one, and said to each of them: Write for me a translation of the Torah of Moses your teacher. The Holy One, Blessed be He, placed wisdom in the heart of each and every one, and they all agreed to one common understanding. Not only did they all translate the text correctly, they all introduced the same changes into the translated text.
אין זה בטלמיוס פילאדילפו שידוע שהיה אוהב ישראל ובקש ההעתקה הידועה מהכ"ג שבירושלם בהכנעה ובהתרפס לו ברצי כסף ודורונות גדולות שעשה לבהמ"ק ולכ"ג ולזקנים מעתיקי התורה שתנתן לו בקשתו זאת כמפורסם בספר אריסטיאה שחובר על זאת באותו פרק המעשה ע"י המשולח של המלך לירושלם, אלא תלמי אחר הוא זה.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden on Megillah 9a
This is not Ptolemy Philadelphus, for it is known that he was a lover of Israel and that he sought the famous translation from the High Priest in Jerusalem with humility, humbling himself before him with appeasements of silver and great gifts made for the Holy Temple, the High Priest, as well as the elders who translated the Torah, so that they should grant this request of his. This has been made well-known in the book of Aristeas that was written on this topic by the emissary of the king to Jerusalem. Rather, this is a different Ptolemy.
1ΕΝ ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. 2 ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος. 3 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· γενηθήτω φῶς· καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς.
Septuagint Genesis Chapter 1
1 In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. 2 But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. 3 And God said, Let there be light, and there was light
1ΚΑΙ συνετελέσθησαν ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ πᾶς ὁ κόσμος αὐτῶν. 2 καὶ συνετέλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἕκτῃ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, ἃ ἐποίησε, καὶ κατέπαυσε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἐποίησε. 3 καὶ εὐλόγησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν· ὅτι ἐν αὐτῇ κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ Θεὸς ποιῆσαι.
Septuagint Genesis Chapter 2
And the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole world of them. 2 And God finished on the sixth day his works which he made, and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works which he made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he ceased from all his works which God began to do.
1Ψαλμὸς εἰς ἐξομολόγησιν. - ΑΛΑΛΑΞΑΤΕ τῷ Κυρίῳ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, 2 δουλεύσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ, εἰσέλθετε ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει. 3 γνῶτε ὅτι Κύριος, αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ οὐχ ἡμεῖς· ἡμεῖς δὲ λαὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ πρόβατα τῆς νομῆς αὐτοῦ.
Septuagint Psalm 100
1 [A Psalm for Thanksgiving.] Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with exultation. 3 Know that the Lord he is God; he made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
13ἡ βασιλεία σου βασιλεία πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἡ δεσποτεία σου ἐν πάσῃ γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ. 13α πιστὸς Κύριος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ. 14 ὑποστηρίζει Κύριος πάντας τοὺς καταπίπτοντας καὶ ἀνορθοῖ πάντας τοὺς κατερραγμένους.
Septuagint Psalm 145 (Ashrei)
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion [endures] through all generations. 13a The Lord is faithful in his words, and holy in all his works. 14 The Lord supports all that are falling, and sets up all that are broken down.
משנה מסכת סוטה פרק ט משנה יד
בפולמוס של אספסיינוס גזרו על עטרות חתנים ועל האירוס בפולמוס של טיטוס גזרו על עטרות כלות ושלא ילמד אדם
את
בנו יונית
Mishnah Sotah 9:14
During the war (pulmus) with Vespasian they decreed against crowns worn by grooms and against the marriage [bell]. During the war against Titus they decreed against crowns worn by brides, and that no one should teach their son Greek.