Up to this point
Cyril’s account is based upon the statements of the
Pseudo-Aristeas. The fabulous incidents which follow, concerning
the separate cells, the completion of the whole version by each
translator, the miraculous agreement in the very words, proving a
Divine inspiration, are found in Philo Judæus, Life of
Moses, II. 7. Josephus, Antiquities, XII. c.
ii. 3–14, following the letter of Aristeas, gives long
descriptions of the magnificent presents sent by Philadelphus to
Jerusalem, and of his splendid hospitality to the translators, but
makes no allusion to the separate cells or miraculous agreement.
On the contrary he represents the 72 interpreters as meeting together
for consultation, agreeing on the text to be adopted, and completing
their joint labours in 72 days. The slightest comparison of the
Version with the original Hebrew must convince any reasonable person
that the idea of divine inspiration or supernatural assistance,
borrowed by Justin Martyr, Irenæus, and other Fathers, apparently
from Philo, is a mere invention of the imagination, disproved by the
facts. Compare the article “Septuagint” in
Murray’s Dictionary of the Bible.