Heidi Geisler, age 17, of White Plains, N.Y., for her question:

WHAT IS THE SEPTUAGINT?

Septuagint is the oldest Greek translation of the Old Testament. The name comes from a Latin word meaning "seventy."

A legend says that King Ptolemy II of Egypt had 70 Jewish scholars translate the Torah, or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

Most scholars, however, say that the translation was prepared for Greek speaking Jews who no longer understood Hebrew, and that it was not completed at one time. The Law was translated about 250 B.C., while the other books were completed during the next 200 years.

The most famous manuscripts of the Septuagint are the Vaticanuss, which is now in the Vatican Library in Rome, and the Alexandrinus and Sinaiticus, which is now in London.