Letter of Aristeas

1917 printed page 21 / §§1–4

Editorial reading guide (2026): This is H. St. J. Thackeray’s 1917 English translation. Navigation follows its printed pages 21–87, not newly invented chapters. Original headings and marginal section numbers 1–322 are retained. Underscores mark printed italics, often words supplied in translation. Braced numbers such as {1} refer to the separately labelled translator’s notes on that page. Page breaks may divide sentences. Section numbers are original marginal line anchors, not reconstructed clause boundaries. Modern transcription cautions are explicitly labelled. Historical gaps and conjectures are retained, not silently completed. Source: Internet Archive, Robarts Library, University of Toronto, theletterofarist00unknuoft. Printed page 21 Original marginal section labels beginning on this page: §1, §2, §3, §4. THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS (I) INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS TO PHILOCRATES As the story of our deputation to Eleazar, the high priest of the Jews, is worth the telling, and because thou, Philocrates, hast set thy heart, as thou art constantly reminding me, on learning the motives and purpose of our mission, I have endeavoured to give thee a clear account of the matter. I know that love of learning of thine; and it is indeed man's highest task "ever to make addition to his store of learning and acquirements,"{1} either by the study of history or by actual experience of affairs. The soul is thus built up in purity, by taking up into itself what is best, and with piety, supreme above all, as its aim, is assisted in its pursuit by an unerring guide. It was my{2} devotion to the careful study of religion which led me{2} to offer my{2} services for the embassy to the man I have mentioned, who, owing to his virtuous character and exalted position, is held in high honour both by his countrymen and by the rest of the world, and is in possession of _documents of_ the greatest service to his nation, whether at home or abroad, for the translation of the divine law, because it exists in their country written on parchment in Hebrew characters. This _embassy_ then TRANSLATOR’S NOTES (1917) — printed page 21 {1} These words form an iambic line in the Greek, and are probably a quotation from a lost tragedy. {2} Lit. " our," "us," " our." TRANSCRIPTION CAUTIONS (2026, editorial) - Section 2 is aligned with the line beginning "and it is indeed"; exact clause boundary is not independently marked in print. The quoted phrase begins within that line.