The development of Origen’s monumental work, the Hexapla, must be understood in the larger context of the history of the Greek Old Testament and the challenges that arose by the late second century C.E. The Septuagint, originally produced in the third to second centuries B.C.E. in Alexandria, had spread widely across the Jewish diaspora and, by the first century C.E., was in constant use among Christians. As the Hebrew text became increasingly stabilized through the work of Jewish scribes after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., tensions mounted between Jews and Christians over the reliability of the Septuagint, which often contained expansions, paraphrases, and differences from the Hebrew. By the second century C.E., at least four competing Greek versions of the Old Testament were in circulation: Aquila’s ultra-literal translation, Symmachus’s smoother rendering, Theodotion’s revision (especially of Daniel), and the older Septuagint. It was into this textual complexity that Origen stepped, producing a scholarly tool of unprecedented scale: the Hexapla.

Origen’s Life and Motivation for the Hexapla

Origen (ca. 185–254 C.E.) was born in Alexandria, Egypt, a city known for its scholarship, libraries, and strong Jewish community. Immersed in both Greek philosophical traditions and Christian theology, Origen was among the most learned men of his age. He was acutely aware of the growing disputes between Jews and Christians regarding the authority of the Septuagint and the Hebrew Scriptures. In his Letter to Africanus, Origen makes his intent clear: the Hexapla was created so that “in discussion with Jews, Christians do not quote passages not to be found in their Scriptures and so that Christians, in turn, could also use what was to be found in Jewish manuscripts even though not in their own.”

This shows that Origen’s aim was primarily apologetic and exegetical. He sought to equip Christians with a reliable comparison of textual witnesses, so they could defend their readings and better understand the divergences between Hebrew and Greek traditions. His work was not merely academic but also deeply practical for theological debates of his day.

The Structure of the Hexapla

The Hexapla was an immense scholarly enterprise, reportedly extending to some six thousand pages across fifty volumes. Its title derives from its six parallel columns, which systematically laid out the Scriptures in both Hebrew and Greek for direct comparison. The arrangement was as follows:

1. The Hebrew text written in Hebrew characters.

2. The Hebrew text transliterated into Greek characters, making the sounds of the Hebrew accessible to Greek readers unfamiliar with Hebrew script.

3. Aquila’s Greek version, produced in the early second century C.E., known for its strict literalism and attempt to adhere to Hebrew word order and morphology.

4. Symmachus’s version, a smoother, idiomatic Greek translation that nonetheless remained closer to the Hebrew than the Septuagint.

5. Origen’s own revised edition of the Septuagint, which was carefully annotated with critical signs. Obelus symbols (–) were used to mark words or passages in the Septuagint that had no equivalent in the Hebrew, while asterisks (*) indicated material absent in the Greek but present in the Hebrew.

6. Theodotion’s version, a revision of the Septuagint, frequently adopted in place of the Old Greek version of Daniel in both Jewish and Christian circles.

In some places, Origen also included additional Greek versions beyond these six, so that certain books had more than six columns. These additional versions are sometimes referred to as the Quinta and Sexta.

The Purpose and Method of Origen’s Critical Work

Origen’s Hexapla was not intended to replace the Hebrew Scriptures, nor did it attempt to produce an entirely new Greek translation. Instead, it served as a critical apparatus that allowed side-by-side comparison of textual witnesses. By doing this, Origen clarified where the Septuagint diverged from the Hebrew and provided a means to evaluate whether alternative Greek translations were closer to the Hebrew Vorlage.

Origen’s fifth column—the revised Septuagint—was especially influential. His insertion of critical signs demonstrated remarkable scholarly discipline for his era. By marking readings unique to the Septuagint with an obelus and adding Hebrew-based material with an asterisk, he allowed his readers to discern where the Greek text expanded or shortened material compared to the Hebrew. This preserved both the integrity of the Septuagint and recognition of the Hebrew as the base text.

The Transmission and Influence of the Hexapla

Although the Hexapla was an extraordinary achievement, the original fifty-volume set did not survive antiquity. Its sheer size, the fragility of ancient materials, and the turmoil of the following centuries meant that only fragments of the Hexapla remain today, preserved primarily through citations by later Christian writers such as Eusebius, Jerome, and Epiphanius. Portions of Origen’s fifth column revision, however, circulated widely and came to dominate the history of the Septuagint text.

This fifth column, known as the Hexaplaric Septuagint, became the foundation of later manuscript traditions in the Greek Old Testament, particularly in Christian usage. It influenced codices such as Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, ensuring that Origen’s scholarly hand continued to shape the biblical text for centuries. His critical symbols, unfortunately, were often lost in transmission, meaning later copyists sometimes incorporated Hebrew-based additions into the Septuagint text without marking them as Origen had originally done.

The Lasting Importance of the Hexapla

The Hexapla represents a landmark in the history of Old Testament textual criticism. It is the first known attempt at a systematic collation of multiple textual witnesses of the Bible and demonstrates an extraordinary awareness of the complexities of transmission. Origen’s methodology shows that he recognized the primacy of the Hebrew text while also respecting the established Greek traditions that were central to Christian worship and theology.

His work provided a framework for evaluating textual variants and highlighted the necessity of careful comparison across manuscripts and versions. Even though the full Hexapla is lost, its legacy endured through the shaping of the Septuagint text, the insights preserved by later scholars, and the principles of critical textual study that foreshadow modern biblical scholarship.

In the history of the Old Testament text, the Hexapla occupies a unique role as both a defense of Christian use of the Greek Scriptures and a pioneering example of rigorous textual criticism. It ensured that subsequent generations could engage both Hebrew and Greek traditions with a clarity that would otherwise have been impossible.

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