Christianity Books

Septuagint

The World’s Most Expensive Book?

J. Curtis Manor
 

Bought any good books lately?  . . .   In 1384 a Wycliffe Bible could be bought, fresh from the scribe, for $200 – in a day when a workingman’s wage was something like 15 cents!
But my nomination as the most expensive book of all time is the Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament.
About 270 B.C., Ptolemy Philadelphus, ruler of Egypt and Syria, was diligently seeking to make the city of Alexandria the culture capital of the world.  One of his ambitions was to stock the shelves of its great library with copies of every book on earth, translated out of their original tongues into the then universal Greek, thus making available to Egyptian scholars all the recorded wisdom of the ages.  Already the collection numbered more than 200,000 volumes, and he was shooting for 500,000.
Ptolemy was particularly eager to obtain a copy of the wonderful scriptures said to be possessed by the Hebrews.  These mysterious laws were said to have been delivered to the Jews by Jupiter (the Father God) himself, and it was commonly believed that the superior personal morals, domestic and social stability, unquenchable patriotism, and remarkable financial talents of the Jewish people were somehow connected with their possession and observance of these fabulous laws.  Conceiving himself to be a worshiper of this God (along with others, of course), Philadelphus thought it grossly unfair of “Jupiter” to have given such a marvelous tool of living to the Jews only and to have withheld it from so many other worshiping nations.
So he resolved to make the secret wisdom available to all men through his great library.  But the noble venture was easier said than done, for two major obstacles stood in the way.  First, the only authentic and reliable copies of the Jewish writings were kept in a great temple in the formidable mountain stronghold of Jerusalem, jealously guarded by fanatical priests whose reluctance to disperse the hidden knowledge to foreigners was legendary.  Second, never in history had any translation of the scriptures been permitted, so what good would a copy of the law do in the Alexandrian library?  Certainly, almost any Hebrew could speak Greek, but who other than a Jew could read those weird, hind-part-before Hebrew characters?  Obviously, Ptolemy would have to enlist the unprecedented cooperation of the most notoriously uncooperative body of bureaucrats the world had ever (or has ever) known --- the Orthodox Jewish priesthood!
It mattered little that Philadelphus was the ruling monarch.  Jewish religious convictions had never been known to yield to force, regardless of how ruthlessly applied.  Besides, Philadelphus wasn’t that kind of man, as his name implies:  “Brotherly Love.”  The king sought the advice of his counselors, and determined to besiege the citadel of Jewish conservatism with a massive barrage of goodwill.  The king would send priceless gifts to the Jerusalem temple, with massive sacrifices for the altar --- plus, for good measure, a respectable amount of payola for the priests’ personal enrichment.  This would be accompanied by a letter proclaiming the king’s friendship for the Jews, his admiration of their laws, and his earnest desire to procure the superior blessings of their great religion for all his subjects.
One of Ptolemy’s advisors, a man named Aristeus, raised a touchy question:  “How much impression do you think that’s going to make, as long as we Egyptians continue to hold 120,000 Jews in slavery since the days of your father, Ptolemy Soter, who invaded Jerusalem under the guise of friendship and requited its hospitality by bringing all these people back as POW’s?”
“Hmmm . . . .,” said Ptolemy.  “I see what you mean. . . . Tell you what we’ll do.  We’ll emancipate all the Jews in Egypt.  Reimburse their owners at twenty drachmas a head.  Let them go home if they want to, or give them full citizens’ rights if they prefer to stay here.”
“But that will cost 400 talents!” cried one counselor.
“Pay it!” said the king.  “We can recoup part of the expense by confiscating the property of anybody who holds out or refuses to accept the government-fixed price of his Jews.  . . .  But even if it costs the whole amount, I want that Book at any price!” 
So all the Jews went freed, at a cost approximating $1,639,419, and the king sent a letter to Eleazar the Jewish high priest, along the lines I have mentioned, adding that he had emancipated all the Jewish slaves who had, somehow --- doubtless without his father’s knowledge --- been kidnapped by certain mutinous and unprincipled soldiers and kept in secret and unauthorized bondage until such time as he, Philadelphus, had become aware of the gross outrage upon so noble a people and rectified situation.  And now, would the high priest kindly reciprocate the king’s goodwill by lending as official copy of the Jewish Scriptures to the Alexandrian library only long enough for an accurate translation to be made into the Greek language; and, to assure that the work should be done with reverence, care and accuracy ___, to the handling of divine wisdom, would he also send six of the most reliable scholars out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel to carry out the project at the king’s own expense. 
Ptolemy dispatched his letter, to Jerusalem, along with 50 talents of gold fashioned into furnishings and vessels for the temple, another 100 talents in money to finance sacrificial offerings on behalf of the king, and a fabulous treasure of precious stones. 
The proud-but-poor priests were taken by storm, and Eleazar was delighted to grant so flattering a request from so well-proven a friend.  The seventy-two elders were soon on their way to the great city of Alexandria. 
Ptolemy welcomed them with great pomp and feasting, and declared the day of their arrival a holiday to be observed annually through the remainder of his reign.  He notified his secretary to cancel all his business appointments for the next twelve days, while he entertained these distinguished guests and discussed religion and philosophy with them.  After this, the guest were shown to the sumptuous quarters where they should live and the quiet, fully equipped studio on an off-shore island in the sea where they could work undistracted; and each scribe was advanced three talents of expense money for out of pocket emergencies.  The scholars had ample time to enjoy this largesse in the exciting Egyptian capital, since their workday ended at three each afternoon.