Who Is This For?
Best For:
Septuagint study, Orthodox readers, understanding NT quotations, textual comparison with Masoretic Text, historical scholarship.
Not Ideal For:
General Bible reading, modern worship, those unfamiliar with Septuagint significance, or those wanting contemporary English.
Strengths & Limitations
✓ Strengths of the BRE
- Access to the Greek Old Testament used by early church
- Essential for understanding NT use of OT
- Includes deuterocanonical books
- Long-standing scholarly standard
- Public domain - freely available
✗ Limitations to Consider
- Victorian English now significantly dated
- Pre-modern critical editions
- Superseded by NETS and other modern translations
- 19th-century scholarly limitations
- Unfamiliar to most readers
Overview
Sir Lancelot Brenton's translation of the Septuagint provides English access to the ancient Greek Old Testament used by the early Christian church and still authoritative in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. For over a century, this was the standard English Septuagint.
Want to read the BRE Bible online? Use our Bible search tool to find any verse, or start reading from Genesis.
Notable Features of the BRE
- Only widely available English Septuagint for over a century
- Includes books not in Protestant Bibles
- Essential for NT quotation study
- Public domain
- Greek-English parallel format in original
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Brenton Septuagint?
Sir Lancelot Brenton's translation of the Septuagint provides English access to the ancient Greek Old Testament used by the early Christian church and still authoritative in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. For over a century, this was the standard English Septuagint.
How can I read the BRE Bible online?
You can read and search the Brenton Septuagint online for free at Acts1 Family. Use our Bible search tool to find any verse, chapter, or keyword in the BRE translation.
When was the BRE Bible published?
The Brenton Septuagint was first published in 1851. It is classified as a Formal Equivalence translation with a 12th Grade reading level.
Who should use the BRE Bible?
Septuagint study, Orthodox readers, understanding NT quotations, textual comparison with Masoretic Text, historical scholarship.
How does the BRE compare to other Bible translations?
The Brenton Septuagint (BRE) is a Formal Equivalence translation. Compare it with other versions like the KJV, ASV, or NIV using our Bible comparison tools to find the best translation for your needs.
Read the BRE Online
Search any verse, compare with other translations, or start reading from Genesis.
Start ReadingHistory
Complete History of the BRE Translation
The Septuagint (often abbreviated LXX for the legendary 70 translators) is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, produced in Alexandria, Egypt, beginning in the 3rd century BC. It was the Bible of the early Greek-speaking church and is still the official Old Testament of Eastern Orthodox churches.
Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton (1807-1862) was an English clergyman and scholar who undertook to make this important text available in English. His translation was published in 1851 by Samuel Bagster and Sons, with the Greek and English in parallel columns.
The Septuagint differs from the Hebrew Masoretic Text in numerous places - sometimes with different words, sometimes with additional or missing verses, and sometimes with entirely different chapter arrangements. Most New Testament quotations of the Old Testament follow the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew, making it essential for understanding how NT authors read Scripture.
Brenton's translation remained the standard English Septuagint for over 150 years, only recently supplemented by newer translations like the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS, 2007).
Translators
Meet the 1 Key Translators and Contributors
Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton
Sole translator
English clergyman and scholar (1807-1862) who produced the definitive English Septuagint of the Victorian era.
Textual Basis
Manuscript Sources and Translation Methodology
Translated from the printed Greek Septuagint text, specifically the Codex Vaticanus with variants noted from other manuscripts.
Reception
Scholarly Praise
"Brenton's had been the most widely used English translation of the Septuagint for over 150 years, until the publication of the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) in 2007."
— International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Introduction to Brenton's Septuagint (2024) [source]
Scholarly Concerns
While historically significant, Brenton's 1844 translation has been largely superseded by NETS (2007) for scholarly purposes, which benefits from advances in Septuagint studies over the past 150 years.
— Wikipedia, The Septuagint version of the Old Testament (Brenton) (2024) [source]
Revision History
View 1 Major Revisions and Updates
- 1851 Original publication by Samuel Bagster and Sons.
Compare Translations
See how the BRE compares to other English Bible translations.
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