By Water & Blood

Chapter 2

[ARISTEAS] 'WHEN Demetrius Phalereus was appointed over the king's library, he acquired large sums of money with the view of collecting all the books in the world, and by making purchases and transcriptions brought the king's purpose to completion, as far as in him lay. 

'So being asked in our presence how many myriads there are of books, he answered----"Over twenty myriads, O king: and I shall endeavour to have the rest made up to fifty myriads in a short time. It has also been notified to me that the customs of the Jews are worthy of transcription and of a place in thy library."

'"What is there then," said the king, "to hinder you from doing this? For all that you can require has been assigned to you." And Demetrius replied----"An interpretation also is required; for in Judaea they use characters peculiar to themselves, just as the Egyptians use their own position of the letters, inasmuch as they have also a language of their own. And they are supposed to employ Syriac, but that is not so, for it is a different kind of language."

'And when the king understood everything, he ordered a letter to be written to the High Priest of the Jews, in order that the aforesaid matters might be completed.'

And further on he adds:

'And when this was accomplished, the king commanded Demetrius to report on the description of the Jewish books. For all matters were arranged by these kings in ordinances and with great accuracy, and nothing thrown off at random. For this reason also I have given a place to the report and to the copies of the letters, and to the number of the offerings sent, and the manufacture of each, because every one of them was distinguished by the grandeur of the parts and artistic skill. A copy of the report is as follows:'

CHAPTER III 

'"To THE GREAT KING FROM DEMETRIUS.

'"IN accordance with thy command, O king, that the books which were wanting to the completion of the library might be collected, and that the parts which had been damaged might be properly restored, I have very carefully given my attention to these matters, and now present my report to thee.

'"There are wanting the books of the Law of the Jews, together with some few others. For they are expressed in Hebrew characters and language, and are rather carelessly written, and not as they are in the original, according to the report of those who know best, since they have not had the benefit of the king's providence.

'"But it is right that thou shouldest possess these also thoroughly corrected, because this legislation, being divine, is very full of wisdom and sincerity. For which reason both prose-writers and poets and the multitude of historians have avoided the mention of the aforesaid books, and of the men who ordered their life according to them, because, as Hecataeus of Abdera says, the mode of thought therein is of a pure and venerable character.

'"If therefore it seems good, O king, there shall be a letter written to the High Priest in Jerusalem, to send elderly men who have lived the most honourable lives, and are experienced in matters of their own Law, six from each tribe, in order that we may test the agreement by a large number, and after receiving the exact interpretation, may give it a distinguished place, in a manner worthy both of the circumstances and of thy purpose. Good fortune be ever thine."

'And when this report had been presented, the king commanded a letter to be written to Eleazar on this subject, informing him also of the release of the captives which had taken place. He also gave for the manufacture of bowls and cups, and a table, and flagons, fifty talents weight of gold, and seventy talents weight of silver, and a large quantity of precious stones.

'And he commanded the treasurers to give to the artists the choice of whatever they should prefer, and of current coin as much as a hundred talents for sacrifices and other things. Concerning the workmanship, we will give you information, as soon as we have gone through the copies of the letters. The king's letter was in the following form:'