This translation of the sacred text of the Old Testament is the result of a painstaking and long-term effort, approximately thirty years in duration, which was initiated by the late professor of the Old Testament at the University of Athens and Director of the Apostolic Diakonia, Vasileios Vellas.

The rendering into contemporary Modern Greek for the 39 books of the Old Testament, whose original text is written in Hebrew, was undertaken from the critical edition of the Hebrew text Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, while for the books whose original text is in Greek, their rendering was done from the also critical edition of the text of the Septuagint (LXX) A. Rahlfs, "Septuaginta".

The decision to translate the Hebrew text of the Old Testament was taken for scientific reasons and, more importantly, to serve as a foundation for the future translation of the text of the LXX, which has also been planned by the Greek Biblical Society.