Legends arose about the Septuagint, so called because it was the work of seventy translators. It
was said that each of the seventy translated the whole independently, and that when the versions
were compared they were found to be identical down to the smallest detail, having all been
divinely inspired. Nevertheless, later scholarship showed that the Septuagint was gravely
defective. The Jews, after the rise of Christianity, made little use of it, but reverted to reading the
Old Testament in Hebrew. The early Christians, on the contrary, few of whom knew Hebrew,
depended upon the Septuagint, or upon translations from it into Latin. A better text was produced
by the labours of Origen in the third century, but those who only knew Latin had very defective
versions until Jerome, in the fifth century, produced the Vulgate. This was, at first, received with
much criticism, because he had been helped by Jews in establishing the text, and many Christians
thought that Jews had deliberately falsified the prophets in order that they should not seem to
foretell Christ. Gradually, however, the work of Saint Jerome was accepted, and it remains to this
day authoritative in the Catholic Church.
The philosopher Philo, who was a contemporary of Christ, is the best illustration of Greek
influence on the Jews in the sphere of thought. While orthodox in religion, Philo is, in philosophy,
primarily a Platonist; other important influences are those of the Stoics and Neopythagoreans.
While his influence among the Jews ceased after the fall of Jerusalem, the Christian Fathers found
that he had shown the way to reconcile Greek philosophy with acceptance of the Hebrew
Scriptures.
In every important city of antiquity there came to be considerable colonies of Jews, who shared
with the representatives of other Eastern religions an influence upon those who were not content
either with scepticism or with the official religions of Greece and Rome. Many converts were
made to Judaism, not only in the Empire, but also in South Russia. It was probably to Jewish and
semi-Jewish circles that Christianity first appealed. Orthodox Judaism, however, became more
orthodox and more narrow after the fall of Jerusalem, just as it had done after the earlier fall due
to Nebuchadrezzar. After the first century, Christianity also crystallized, and the relations of
Judaism and Christianity were wholly hostile and external; as we shall see, Christianity
powerfully stimulated anti-Semitism. Throughout the Middle
-322-Ages, Jews had no part in the culture of Christian countries, and were too severely persecuted to
be able to make contributions to civilization, beyond supplying capital for the building of
cathedrals and such enterprises. It was only among the Mohammedans, at that period, that Jews
were treated humanely, and were able to pursue philosophy and enlightened speculation.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Mohammedans were more civilized and more humane than the
Christians. Christians persecuted Jews, especially at times of religious excitement; the Crusades
were associated with appalling pogroms. In Mohammedan countries, on the contrary, Jews were
not in any way ill treated. Especially in Moorish Spain, they contributed to learning; Maimonides (
1135-1204), who was born at Cordova, is regarded by some as the source of much of Spinoza's
philosophy. When the Christians reconquered Spain, it was largely the Jews who transmitted to
them the learning of the Moors. Learned Jews, who knew Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic, and were
acquainted with the philosophy of Aristotle, transmitted their knowledge to less learned
schoolmen. They transmitted also less desirable things, such as alchemy and astrology.
After the Middle Ages, the Jews still contributed largely to civilization as individuals, but no
longer as a race.