亚里斯提书信

亚里斯提书信（英语：Letter of Aristeas；古希腊语：Επιστολή τοῦ Αριστέα），是公元前3世纪或2世纪初的希腊化作品。一些圣经学者，如布鲁斯·梅茨格（英语：Bruce M. Metzger），认为该信是伪造的。^[1][2] 这封书信是最早提到亚历山大图书馆的文字。 ^[3] 犹太史家约瑟夫斯^[4]，解释书信的五分之二，称该信是马莫拉（Marmora）的亚里斯提，写给斐罗克拉特（Philocrates）。72名翻译员应亚历山大港图书馆长的要求，从耶路撒冷前往埃及翻译希伯来文圣经成希腊语，即七十士译本。然而，一些学者，如罗杰·巴格诺尔（英语：Roger S. Bagnall），认为这件事是虚构的。 ^[5] 1958年，维克多·切利科夫（英语：Victor Tcherikover）称亚里斯提书信是犹太教护教学的作品，以向希腊化世界的希腊人保护犹太教的价值与合理性。^[6]

《亚里斯提书信》的开头。梵蒂冈图书馆，11世纪。

拉丁文译本。右有托勒密二世的画像。收于巴伐利亚国家图书馆，约1480。

希腊拉丁对照本，1692，牛津

历史

托勒密二世与七十士交谈。Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne（英语：Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne）绘，1672。

亚里斯提书信，是马莫拉的亚里斯提写给其兄弟斐罗克拉特的信，内容主要涉及希伯来律法的希腊语翻译，即七十士译本的翻译过程。^[7] 作者自称是友爱者托勒密二世 (公元前281-246年在位)的廷臣 。

现知，有二十多份希腊手稿保存下来，可追溯到11世纪至15世纪。 在其他古代文本中，也引用该信，如约瑟夫斯的《犹太古史》 (c. 93 AD）、斐洛的《摩西生平》 (c. 15 AD)、优比西乌《福音传》中摘录的亚里斯托布鲁（英语：Aristobulus of Alexandria）作品片段（c.160 BC）。^[8]

在《亚里斯提书信》中，埃及国王，可能是托勒密二世，在亚历山大图书馆馆长法勒鲁姆的德米特里的敦促下，将希伯来律法翻译成希腊语，以将希伯来人的知识添加至帝国已经收集了的大量书籍中。国王积极促成，赋予被俘虏的犹太人自由，派遣使节向耶路撒冷的圣殿献上奢华的礼物。圣殿的大祭司从十二支派中各选出6人，一共72人。大祭司发表了赞扬律法的长篇布道。当译者到达亚历山大时，国王喜极而泣，在随后7日内，向译者提出哲学问题。译者们为这些问题提出了聪明的答案。 72名翻译员，随后在整整72天内，完成任务。亚历山大的犹太人，在听到以希腊语宣读的律法后，纷纷索要副本，并咒诅任何更改译文的人。国王重赏翻译员，翻译员便返乡了。^[9] 相似的叙述元素在《巴比伦塔木德》的《五圣卷》（Megillah）^{[注 1]}中重新讲述。 ^[10]

公元2世纪作者的主要目标之一，似乎是确立七十士译本优于其他希伯来圣经版本。 作者显已希腊化的，将宙斯描绘成以色列上帝的另一个名字。虽然信中批评希腊的偶像崇拜和性道德，但措辞采取游说，语气和缓，而非敌意的攻击。 作者详述犹太教，尤其是耶路撒冷圣殿，咸认为是在劝人改宗犹太教。^[11]

参考

注

1. 或译密基拿，即《以斯帖记》、《路得记》、《传道书》、《雅歌》及《耶利米哀歌》。《以斯帖记》中有相似的叙述元素。

注脚

1. Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. (Palo Alto: Mayfield) 1985; André Pelletier, SJ, La Lettre d'Aristée à Philocrate (Paris) 1962.
2. Metzger, B. The Bible in Translation. Baker Academic. 2001: 15. Most scholars who have analyzed the letter have concluded that the author cannot have been the man he represented himself to be but was a Jew who wrote a fictitious account in order to enhance the importance of the Hebrew Scriptures by suggesting that a pagan king had recognized their significance and therefore arranged for their translation into Greek.
3. The Cambridge Companion to the City in Literature, edited by Kevin R. McNamara, p.36
4. Antiquities XII:ii passim (Online （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） in Greek and English at York University)
5. The narrative is "open to the gravest suspicion, and the letter abounds with improbabilities and is now generally regarded as more or less fabulous," observed The Classical Review 335/6 (August–September 1919:123), reporting H. St.J. Thackeray's The Letter of Aristeas, with an Appendix of the Ancient Evidence on the Origin of the LXX..
6. Tcherikover, V. The Ideology of the Letter of Aristeas. Harvard Theological Review. 1958-04, 51.2: 59-85. Modern scholars commonly regard the "Letter of Aristeas" as a work typical of Jewish apologetics, aiming at self-defense and propaganda, and directed to the Greeks. Here are some instances illustrating this general view. In 1903 Friedlander wrote that the glorification of Judaism in the letter was no more than self-defense, though "the book does not mention the antagonists of Judaism by name, nor does it admit that its intention is to refute direct attacks". Stein sees in the letter "a special kind of defense, which practices diplomatic tactics", and Tramontano also speaks of "an apologetic and propagandist tendency". Vincent characterizes it as "a small unapologetic novel written for the Egyptians" (i.e. the Greeks in Egypt). Pheiffer says: "This fanciful story of the origin of the Septuagint is merely a pretext for defending Judaism against its heathen denigrators, for extolling its nobility and reasonableness, and first striving to convert Greek speaking Gentiles to it". Schürer classes the letter with a special kind of literature, "Jewish propaganda in Pagan disguise", whose works are "directed to the pagan reader, in order to make propaganda for Judaism among the Gentiles". Andrews, too, believes that the role of a Greek was assumed by Aristeas in order "to strengthen the force of the argument and commend it to non-Jewish readers. Even Gutman, who rightly recognizes that the Letter sprang 'from an inner need of the educated Jew,' sees in it 'a strong means for making Jewish propaganda in the Greek world.
7. Letter of Aristeas. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 2012 [14 August 2012]. （原始内容存档于2015-05-06）.
8. Hereen, Achille; Seminaire, Grande; Bruges, Belgium. Origin of the Septuagint according to Tradition. Bible Source Texts Septuagint Version. Veritas Bible. 2009–2012 [14 August 2012]. （原始内容存档于27 July 2012）.
9. Smith, Prof. Barry D. Jewish History from Alexander to the Death of Seleucus IV Eupator (333-175 BCE). The Intertestamental Period. Crandall University. 2 September 2010 [14 August 2012]. （原始内容存档于23 June 2012）.
10. Letter of Aristeas | Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates, intertextual.bible, [2023-08-27], （原始内容存档于2023-04-07）
11. Letter of Aristeas (Full Text in Greek and English) – Page 2 – ELLOPOS. [2023-04-07]. （原始内容存档于2023-04-10） （美国英语）.

书目

• Dries De Crom, "The Letter of Aristeas and the Authority of the Septuagint", Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 17,2 (2008), 141–160.

外部链接

• Online version in English translation （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Translation by H. StJ. Thackeray at archive.org
• Aristeas: 2015 Critical Translation with Audio Drama （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） at biblicalaudio
• Online version of the Greek text from the Online Critical Pseudepigrapha （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Jewish Encyclopedia article （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） (1901–06).
• Scholarly assessments （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）, Early Jewish Writings website
• Lecture summary, Dr James Davila (1999), University of St Andrew's.