KENNETH ATKINSON and his work on the Septuagint are profiled in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier (Iowa):

UNI prof helps translate ancient scriptures
By KAREN HEINSELMAN, Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- Hundreds of years ago, Jewish scribes wrote out their holy scriptures by hand.

Tediously. Cautiously. Lovingly.

Today, the translation and transcription of religious texts remains a time-consuming yet fulfilling process for many modern scholars with a biblical studies bent, as Kenneth Atkinson can attest.

Atkinson, an associate professor of religion and philosophy at the University of Northern Iowa, recently assisted with a unique and awesome project. Part of an international team of some two-dozen scholars, Atkinson helped complete an English translation of the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the ancient Jewish scriptures from around 250 B.C.

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Actually, the Pentateuch was translated around 250 BCE, but the rest of the books were translated over the next couple of centuries and revisions of the translations continued to be produced for some time aftet that.

Atkinson was responsible for translating one of 41 books in the Septuagint. A book of poetic writings, "Psalms of Solomon" fits between the Old and New Testament. The collection of Psalms, once used in worship, tells the story of a people awaiting a warrior Messiah.

"For Christians, this is a very important book," Atkinson said. "It helps us understand the world that Judaism, Jesus and Christendom emerged from."

So while many people of faith say they are unfamiliar with the Septuagint, actually anyone who picks up a Bible stands to encounter it, Atkinson said.

Early Christians held the Septuagint in high regard and New Testament authors referenced it, Atkinson said. Saint Augustine declared both Hebrew and Greek translations of the ancient scriptures divinely inspired, Atkinson added.

He also said that the Septuagint created a Greek theological vocabulary to convey the meaning of the Semitic languages of Hebrew and Aramaic.

The Greek Orthodox Church, actually, still uses the translation. Septuagint comes from the Greek word for 70.

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The New Englisht Translation of the Septuagint is available online here.