Letter of Aristeas

Japanese: アリステアスの手紙 - アリステアスのてがみ（英語表記）Letter of Aristeas

A book of the Old Testament Apocrypha (known as "Pseudo-Scripture" in the Protestant Church), it is a literary fiction imitating a letter written in Koine (the common language of ancient Greece). It is written in the form of a letter sent by Aristeas, a courtier of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, to his brother, and in addition to describing the circumstances surrounding the translation of the legal portion of the Septuagint, it also boasts of the superiority of the Jews through an account of his experiences in Jerusalem and a question-and-answer session between the king and the translator at a banquet. It was written in the 2nd century BCE. [Sakumo Yoshi]

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

旧約聖書外典(プロテスタント教会では〈偽典〉)の一書で，コイネー(古代ギリシアの共通語)による書簡体を模した文学的虚構。プトレマイオス2世フィラデルフォスの宮廷人アリステアスが兄弟に書き送った形をとり，《七十人訳聖書》の律法部分の翻訳成立事情を記すほか，エルサレム見聞記，饗宴の席での王と翻訳者との質疑応答などをとおしてユダヤ人の優秀性を誇示する。前2世紀の作。【左近淑】

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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