Ancient Christian Witness

"It was my devotion to the pursuit of religious knowledge
that led me to undertake the embassy to the man I have mentioned, who was held
in the highest esteem by his own citizens and by others both for his virtue and
his majesty and who had in his possession documents of the highest value to the
Jews in his own country and in foreign lands for the interpretation of the
divine law, for their 4 laws are written on leather parchments in Jewish
characters. This embassy then I undertook with enthusiasm, having first of all
found an opportunity of pleading with the king on behalf of the Jewish captives
who had been transported from Judea to Egypt by the king's father, when he first
obtained possession of this city and conquered the land of Egypt. It is worth
while that I should tell"

"magnificence and technical skill. The following is a copy
of the memorial.

The Memorial of Demetrius to the great king. 'Since you
have given me instructions, O king, that the books which are needed to complete
your library should be collected together, and that those which are defective
should be repaired, I have devoted myself with the utmost care to the fulfilment
of your wishes, 30 and I now have the following proposal to lay before you. The
books of the law of the Jews (with some few others) are absent from the library.
They are written in the Hebrew characters and language and have been carelessly
interpreted, and do not represent the original text as I am 31 informed by those
who know; for they have never had a king's care to protect them. It is necessary
that these should be made accurate for your library since the law which they
contain, in as much as it is of divine origin, is full of wisdom and free from
all blemish. For this reason literary men and poets and the mass of historical
writers have held aloof from referring to these books and the men who have lived
and are living in accordance with them, because their 32 conception of life is
so sacred and religious, as Hecataeus of Abdera says. If it please you, O king,
a letter shall be written to the High Priest in Jerusalem, asking him to send
six elders out of every tribe - men who have lived the noblest life and are most
skilled in their law - that we may find out the points in which the majority of
them are in agreement, and so having obtained an accurate translation may place
it in a conspicuous place in a manner worthy of the work itself and your
purpose. May continual prosperity be yours!'"

" When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together
the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read
it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great
reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had 309
conferred upon them. They bestowed warm praise upon Demetrius, too, and urged
him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their
leaders."