Symmachus Evionitis

Symmachus Evionitis ( Greek: Ἐβιωνίτης Σύμμαχος ) is a translator of the Old Testament into Greek . Information about his biography is extremely scarce and contradictory:

• according to Epiphanius of Cyprus, Symmachus was a Samaritan by origin, having not achieved the desired high position among his people, he converted to Judaism , secondarily (symbolically) accepted circumcision and performed a new translation of the Old Testament books into Greek in order to refute the Samaritan teachings. ^[1] However, hostility towards the Samaritans is not confirmed by the nature of his translation. ^[1] Regarding the years of the life of Symmachus, Epiphanius indicates that he lived under the emperors Commodus and the North (180-211). ^[2]
• Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Symmachus belonged to the heresy of the Ebionites and in his translation tried to refute the Gospel of Matthew and confirm the teachings of the Ebionites. Eusebius reports Origen ’s acquaintance with the translation of Symmachus: “ Origen says that he received these remarks, along with other interpretations of Symmachus from the Holy Scriptures, from a certain Julian, whom Symmachus himself handed these books to .” ^[3]
• Jerome Stridon also calls Symmachus Ebionite, but notes that his translation is distinguished by the purity and grace of the language. Jerome in many cases used the translation of Symmachus when compiling his translation of the Bible into Latin . ^[2]

Old Testament biblical scholar P. A. Yungerov notes that Symmachus " avoided the peculiar Jewish construction of speech and used Greek, understandable to readers unfamiliar with the Jewish language ." He tried to express the incomprehensible and unusual features of the Hebrew language of the Greek language in a form adapted to the Greek language: ^[1]

• figurative turns replaced a simple Greek speech;
• the compressed Jewish speech was sometimes supplemented by a widespread and elegant periphrase;
• Jewish proper names that had historical meaning were replaced by unambiguous Greek ones (for example, Eve - Ζωογονος ( Genesis 3:21 ); Eden - ανθηρον ( Genesis 2: 8 )).

On the whole, the language of Simmakhov’s translation is distinguished by extraordinary grace, and according to Eusebius was even “very surprising”. At the same time, Jerome notes that Symmachus in his translation “hid the secret of Christ” and explained many prophecies in the Jewish tradition. Despite this, in the ancient Church, the translation of Symmachus was considered the second after the Septuagint . ^[four]