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Sex Secrets Of LXX? The Roman Numeral 70 Scandal Uncovered!

Mar 13, 2026 • minute read

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What if we told you that the most scandalous secrets tied to the abbreviation LXX have nothing to do with ancient bedrooms, but everything to do with power, piety, and a translation that shook the foundations of Western religion? The phrase “Sex Secrets of LXX” is a provocative hook, but the real scandal is far more fascinating: a tale of legendary translators, Roman emperors’ outrageous behavior, textual battles that continue to this day, and the simple Roman numeral 70 that became the symbol for one of history’s most important—and controversial—books. Welcome to the untold story of the Septuagint.

What Is the Septuagint? The Origin of a Legendary Name

The term "Septuagint" is derived from the Latin phrase Vetus Testamentum ex versione Septuaginta Interpretum ("The Old Testament from the version of the Seventy Translators"). This Latin title itself was a calque—a direct translation—of the Koine Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα (hē metáphrasis tôn hebdomḗkonta), which literally means "The Translation of the Seventy." It’s crucial to note that this name was not applied to the Greek Jewish scriptures during their initial creation. The translation work, begun in the 3rd century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt, was simply known as "the translation into Greek" (he metaphraseis eis ten helleniken glottan). The specific label "of the Seventy" only gained traction centuries later.

The pivotal figure in cementing this Latin name was Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD). In his writings, particularly The City of God, Augustine consistently used the Latin Septuaginta to refer to the Greek Old Testament. His immense influence in the Latin-speaking Christian West ensured that this designation stuck. For Augustine and subsequent Western scholars, the number seventy was not just a numeral; it was a sacred symbol tied to the miraculous origin story that had grown around the translation. This naming convention highlights how early Christian authorities adopted and sanctified a Jewish text, integrating it into the Christian biblical canon as the "Old Testament" and framing its authority through a legendary narrative.

The LXX Abbreviation: A Roman Numeral with a Greek Soul

In literature, scholarship, and even pulpit notes, the Septuagint is almost universally abbreviated as “LXX.” This is not an arbitrary code; it is the Roman numeral for 70 (L = 50, X = 10, X = 10; 50 + 10 + 10 = 70). The use of Roman numerals here is a historical artifact, a bridge between the Latin-speaking scholars of the late antique and medieval West and the Greek text they were referencing. The abbreviation first appeared in medieval Latin manuscripts as lxx, a direct calque of the Koine Greek οἱ ο′ (hoi o′), meaning "the seventy."

This simple abbreviation, LXX, carries immense weight. It instantly signals to any student of the Bible or ancient history that we are discussing the pre-Christian Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures. It distinguishes this text from other Greek versions like those of Aquila, Symmachus, or Theodotion. The choice of the Roman numeral, rather than writing out "Septuagint" or using the Greek Ἑβδομήκοντα, underscores the text’s journey from a Jewish Alexandrian project into the heart of Latin Christianity. It is a perfect example of how a practical scribal abbreviation evolved into a universal scholarly symbol.

The Scandalous World of Ancient Rome: Moral Codes and Extravagant Feasts

To understand the cultural world that eventually received and labeled the Septuagint, we must contrast it with the extravagant feasts and scandalous behavior of Roman leaders, set against the stricter moral codes imposed on women and ordinary citizens. The Rome of the Empire, particularly under emperors like Caligula, Nero, and later Domitian, was a theater of opulence and moral license for the elite. Historical accounts by Suetonius, Tacitus, and Cassius Dio describe banquets that lasted for days, featuring exotic foods, excessive wine, and open displays of sexual impropriety. The infamous coena (dinner party) was not just a meal but a political stage where power was displayed and alliances forged, often through debauchery.

This libertine lifestyle for the principes (emperors and nobles) stood in stark, hypocritical contrast to the Mos Maiorum—the "custom of the ancestors"—a rigid moral code emphasized by the state, especially for women and the lower classes. Augustus Caesar’s moral legislation (lex Julia) harshly punished adultery for women while often turning a blind eye to the emperor’s own licentiousness. A Roman matron’s virtue was a public commodity, reflecting on her father and husband. This double standard created a society simmering with tension between public morality and private excess. Into this world, the Septuagint—with its stern prophets denouncing corruption, its laws demanding justice for the widow and orphan, and its wisdom literature extolling the virtuous woman—presented a radical, alternative ethical framework. The "scandal" was not in the text’s content per se, but in how its stark moral vision contrasted with the lived reality of the powerful Roman elite who would later champion its Latin translation.

Separating Legend from History: The Seventy Translators’ Tale

Many scholars believe that there is an abundance of legend that has grown up around the story of how the Septuagint was translated. The classic narrative, first fully elaborated by the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – 50 CE) and the historian Josephus (c. 37 – 100 CE), tells of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BCE) commissioning seventy-two (six from each of the twelve tribes of Israel) scholars to translate the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) into Greek. The miracle? They worked independently and produced identical translations word for word, proving divine inspiration.

Modern scholarship treats this origin story with considerable skepticism. There is no contemporary Egyptian or Jewish record of such an event. The number seventy-two (or seventy) is likely symbolic, echoing the seventy elders of Israel (Numbers 11:16-25) or the seventy nations of the world (Genesis 10). The translation was almost certainly a gradual, organic process undertaken by multiple Jewish scholars in Alexandria over a century or more, not a single, state-sponsored miracle. The legend, however, was powerful. It served to guarantee the text’s authority for both Hellenistic Jews and later Christians. If seventy-two scholars, divinely guided, agreed, who could question the translation? This legendary framing is a key part of the "scandal" of the LXX: its authority was built not just on its antiquity, but on a story of supernatural consensus that shielded it from criticism for centuries.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the LXX: A Textual Revolution

For centuries, a major criticism of the Septuagint was that it was a loose, sometimes inaccurate, paraphrase of a Hebrew original that was identical to the later Masoretic Text (MT)—the authoritative Hebrew Bible compiled by Jewish scribes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) between 1947 and 1956 radically changed this debate. These scrolls, dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, included Hebrew manuscripts of almost every book of the Bible, some over a thousand years older than the MT.

By showing examples of Hebrew texts which match the LXX, the general effect of the DSS has been to reveal that the LXX was indeed done from a Hebrew text which was different from the MT. For instance:

The scroll of Jeremiah from Qumran (4QJerᵃ) is significantly shorter and follows the order of chapters found in the LXX, not the MT.
The Psalms scrolls contain Hebrew versions of psalms found only in the LXX’s Apocrypha, like Psalm 151.
Variants in the Samuel scrolls align more closely with the LXX’s sometimes “difficult” readings against the smoother MT.

This was a bombshell. It meant the LXX was not a flawed translation but a faithful witness to a different, ancient Hebrew textual tradition—a "sister" text to the MT. The "scandal" shifted: now the question was which textual family was more original? The DSS proved the LXX translators were working from legitimate Hebrew sources, elevating the LXX from a secondary Greek version to a primary witness to the earliest forms of the biblical text. This discovery vindicated centuries of LXX scholars and forced a reevaluation of the entire history of the biblical text.

Decoding Roman Numerals: Why LXX Equals 70

Let’s break down the simple math and history. LXX in Roman numerals can be written in number form by adding the values of each Roman numeral, i.e., LXX = 70. The system uses seven basic letters:

I = 1
V = 5
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
M = 1000

Numbers are formed by combining these symbols, generally by adding values from largest to smallest (LXX = 50 + 10 + 10 = 70). The subtractive principle (where a smaller numeral before a larger one means subtraction, like IV = 4) was used sparingly in ancient times but is standard now. A common mistake is writing 70 as LXX (correct) but confusing it with 60 (LX) or 80 (LXXX). Another error is using IL for 49; the correct form is XLIX (50 - 10 + 10 - 1). Let us learn more about the Roman numeral LXX by practicing: 40 is XL (50-10), 90 is XC (100-10), and 400 is CD (500-100).

Why did medieval scholars choose LXX over writing out septuaginta? Efficiency, certainly. But more importantly, it linked the text to the revered number seventy from the legend. The Roman numeral provided a compact, universally recognizable (in scholarly Latin circles) symbol that carried the weight of the miraculous tradition. It was a branding decision that lasted millennia.

The Enduring Legacy and Modern Significance of the LXX

The Septuagint, often abbreviated as LXX (the Roman numeral for 70), is the oldest Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. Its importance cannot be overstated:

For Early Christianity: The apostles and New Testament writers quoted the Old Testament almost exclusively from the LXX, as it was the Bible of the Greco-Roman world. Key Christological interpretations (e.g., Psalm 22:1 in Matthew 27:46) depend on the LXX’s Greek wording.
For Biblical Scholarship: As demonstrated by the DSS, the LXX is an indispensable tool for textual criticism, helping scholars reconstruct the earliest attainable form of the Hebrew Bible.
For Cultural History: It represents a monumental moment of cultural translation, where Jewish scripture entered the Hellenistic world, influencing philosophy (Philo used it extensively) and literature.
For Liturgical Use: It remains the Old Testament of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The "scandal" uncovered is multifaceted: the scandal of a legendary origin story masking a complex historical process; the scandal of a text deemed authoritative by one faith community being produced by a "heretical" (from a later Rabbinic perspective) Jewish diaspora community; and the scandal of a Roman numeral becoming the banner for a book that challenged Roman moral pretensions. The LXX is not a secret code for sexual exploits. It is a symbol of transmission, controversy, and the messy, magnificent history of how sacred texts live, change, and argue across centuries.

Conclusion: The Real Scandal Is How Much We Still Don’t Know

So, what are the "Sex Secrets of LXX"? The title is a clever misdirection. The true secrets are about authority, authenticity, and the fierce debates over what constitutes the "real" Bible. The scandal is that the version of the Old Testament most used by the early Christians—and which shaped Western thought—was a translation from a Hebrew tradition that later Judaism largely rejected. The scandal is that its legendary birth story of perfect harmony among seventy-two scholars belies a history of diverse textual streams and fierce scholarly competition. And the scandal is that a simple Roman numeral, LXX, born from medieval scribal shorthand, now stands for a 2,300-year-old intellectual and spiritual battleground.

The next time you see LXX, remember the seventy (or seventy-two) anonymous scholars in Alexandria, the lavish and cruel banquets of Roman emperors, the dusty caves of Qumran, and the meticulous scribes in medieval scriptoria. Remember that the number 70 is more than a numeral; it is a key to understanding how a text can be both a product of its time and a timeless provocateur. The Septuagint’s real power lies not in hidden salaciousness, but in its exposed, vibrant, and contentious history—a history that continues to challenge, enlighten, and, yes, scandalize us today.

Roman Numerals: LXX = 70

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