The Greek translation O.T. (so called because Jewish tradition said it was made in 70 days by 72 elders sent from Jerusalem) made in the first instance for the use of Greek-speaking Jews living in Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (284-246 B.C.), though parts were not finished till the middle of the second century B.C. Most of the quotations from the O.T. in the N.T. are taken from this version; it was the Bible in common use at the beginning of the Christian era, and included the books we call the Apocrypha. This translation proved of immense service to the Christian Church, for it taught, in what was then the language of the civilized world, the religious truths that had been the special possession of the Hebrew race. In this way a church that was Jewish in origin was able to teach religion to the world. In commentary material the Septuagint is often referred to as the LXX.