Sophia Scriptura

Church History 5.8.11

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Irenaeus: Ptolemy son of Lagus asked the Jews for a Greek translation of their Scriptures for his library.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:208

τούτοις ἐπιφέρει μετὰ βραχέα λέγων πρὸ τοῦ γὰρ Ῥωμαίους κρατῦναι τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῶν, ἔτι τῶν Μακεδόνων τὴν Ἀσίαν κατε- ‘χόντων, Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Λάγου, φιλοτιμούμενος τὴν “ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ κατεσκευασμένην βιβλιοθήκην ἐν Ἀλε- “ξανδρείᾳ κοσμῆσαι τοῖς πάντων ἀνθρώπων συγγράμμασιν, ὅσα γε σπουδαῖα ὑπῆρχεν, ᾐτήσατο παρὰ τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν εἰς τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν διάλεκτον σχεῖν αὐτῶν μεταβεβλημένας τὰς γραφάς.

English · Claude translation

To this he adds shortly after: “For before the Romans established their empire, while the Macedonians still held Asia, Ptolemy son of Lagus, ambitious to adorn the library he had founded in Alexandria with the writings of all men, as many as were of value, asked the people of Jerusalem to have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:208 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Extrabiblical texts
  • Irenaeus, Irenaeus, Haer. 3.21.2 (Irenaeus, Against Heresies) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.21.2 (to 5.8.15). Other sources name Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.8.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/8/11/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.8.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/8/11/).

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