Origen, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
The Hexapla is the work to which I gave twenty-eight years of my life: a collation of the Old Testament in six parallel columns, set side by side so that a reader could see at once where the versions agreed and where they diverged.1 In the first column stood the Hebrew text as it was then current; in the second, that same Hebrew rendered in Greek letters, so that a scholar who could not read the Hebrew script might at least sound out the words; in the third, the version of Aquila; in the fourth, that of Symmachus; in the fifth, the Septuagint as I found it; and in the sixth, the version of Theodotion.2
Where I came into possession of still other Greek translations of particular books, I added those as well, so that in some portions the work grew to seven, eight, or nine columns, and was called accordingly the Heptapla, Octapla, or Enneapla.3 The reasons for undertaking it were several. Christians who argued about the text of Scripture did not know what Scripture said, because the Septuagint copies in circulation differed from one another and from the Hebrew.
I needed a reliable base for my commentaries, and for debate with Jewish interlocutors who held the Hebrew against us.4 The work of establishing the proper text, comparing manuscripts and translations, and collating words throughout Scripture — this is not a preliminary exercise to be got through before the real reading begins; it is itself part of reading as carefully as the text demands.5
Within the Septuagint column I inserted critical marks borrowed from the grammarians of Alexandria: an obelus to mark what ought to be omitted, an asterisk to mark what ought to be added, taking the additions chiefly from Theodotion.6 The work in its full form extended to nearly fifty volumes, far too large for ordinary use or easy transcription.7
A shorter version, the Tetrapla, presented only the four Greek columns without the Hebrew; whether I produced that first as a preparation for the larger work or extracted it afterward as a more portable excerpt, I leave to those who have examined both.8 The Hexapla itself was kept at Caesarea, in the library Pamphilus founded, and the Septuagint column at least was copied by Pamphilus and Eusebius with my critical marks intact — though subsequent transcribers, through carelessness, allowed the text to be corrupted again.9
Origen's most important contribution to biblical literature was his elaborate attempt to rectify the text of the Septuagint by collating it with the Hebrew original and other Greek versions. On this he spent twenty-eight years, during which he travelled through the East collecting materials.The Writings of Origen Vol 1
In the first was placed the current Hebrew text; in the second, the same represented in Greek letters; in the third, the version of Aquila; in the fourth, that of Symmachus; in the fifth, the text of the LXX., as it existed at the time; and in the sixth, the version of Theodotion.The Writings of Origen Vol 2
Having come into possession also of certain other Greek translations of some of the books of Scripture, he added these in their appropriate place, so that the work presented in some parts the appearance of seven, eight, or nine columns, and was termed Heptapla, Octopla, or Enneapla, in consequence.The Writings of Origen Vol 2
Daniélou suggests that Origen had two reasons for compiling the Hexapla: 1) to debate with the Jews; and 2) to write his commentaries.Homilies on Leviticus 1-16, pp. 6–7
The major point to make is that Origen uses all these methods in order to read the text as carefully as possible. It is impossible to exaggerate the care with which Origen notes details in Scripture.An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Works, p. 53
The obelus and asterisk were borrowed from grammarians at Alexandria and applied to the Septuagint and Masoretic texts.Homilies on Leviticus 1-16, pp. 6–7
The whole extended, it is said, to nearly fifty volumes, and was, of course, far too bulky for common use, and too costly for transcription.The Writings of Origen Vol 2
The form in which he first issued the result of his labours was that of the Tetrapla, which presented in four columns the texts of the LXX., Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. He next issued the Hexapla, in which the Hebrew text was given, first in Hebrew and then in Greek letters.The Writings of Origen Vol 1
The column, however, containing the version of the LXX. had been copied by Pamphilus and Eusebius, along with the critical marks of Origen, although, owing to carelessness on the part of subsequent transcribers, the text was soon again corrupted.The Writings of Origen Vol 2