The Manuscript Tradition Presents a Problem: Variant Readings

All surviving manuscripts of biblical literature are copies not the originals (autographs).

Example: Deuteronomy 33:13
And of Joseph he said, Blessed by
the LORD be his land, with the
choicest gifts of heaven above

Other Hebrew Manuscripts Read:
And of Joseph he said, Blessed by
the LORD be his land, with the
choicest gifts of heaven with the
dew
The Goal of the Text Critic is to distill the version
of the text closest to the original from the vast
array of surviving copies.
Assumptions: Common Sense
Finding the simplest, most logical explanation for the well-
documented tendencies of scribes:
Unintentional Errors of Eye and Ear
Intentional Errors to explain, supply needed information
Some errors shorten the text, e.g., Haplography
Some errors lengthen the text, e.g., glosses

Scribes tend to add to not subtract from the text.
Once the Text Critic has Figured Out What the Scribe has Done
What the Scribe has done Must Be Eliminated
The Stages of Text Criticism
Recensio: the sorting of manuscripts according
to their relative value in reconstructing the original
text. Only readings not completely derivative from
another.
Examinatio: evaluation of mss to determine the
family tree and its root.
Emendatio: the attempt to reconstruct the most
original reading/text (usually not necessary because
one of the mss available probable represents this
reading.
Considerations
External Criteria: the presumed age of a
manuscript/reading. Is the oldest always the more
original? Is the reading that has the most witnesses
to it the more original?

Internal Criteria: Final decisions must be
made on the basis of the reading itself. The basic
question: Which reading most easily could have
changed/been changed into the others?


MT Form
LXX, Syriac Form
Joshua 2:3
Unintentional Expansions of the Text
to spy out ALL the land.
to spy out the land.
Additions Under the Influence
of Other Parts of the Passage
The MT Text Joshua 2:16

the Hebrew Text behind the LXX


The LXX
until those who are pursuing AFTER YOU return.
DittographyDittography

The MT Text of Isaiah 31:6

The Qumran Scroll 1QIsa
a
Return to him against whom (the Israelites) have profoundly (transgressed).
Return to him TO HIM against whom (the Israelites) have profoundly (transgressed).

Extended Dittography



Therefore, you shall no longer devour men, and your nation you shall
no longer totter. Oracle of my lord Yahweh. And I will no longer make
you hear the contempt of the nations, and the reproach of the peoples
you shall no longer bear. And your nation you shall no longer totter.
Oracle of my lord Yahweh.

Ezekiel 36:14-15, The MT Form
The shorter, original text without the dittography appears in the LXX and Syriac versions
Glossing and Its Reasons



Joshua 2:15
She let them down with a rope through the window
(for her house was in the city wall and it was in the wall
that she lived).
The Explanatory Gloss


The presumed Hebrew behind the LXX form.
the pillars of the House of Shemesh which are in On.

LXX form of Jeremiah 43:13
Harmonizing Gloss


Joshua 11:19
The highlighted phrase blty hwy yby gb`wn is not in the LXX,
but was added to conform this passage with Joshua 9.
Explicitating Glosses
Making the Implicit Explicit

Isaiah 42:1, The MT form

The Hebrew behind the LXX
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, with whom my soul is pleased.
Behold JACOB, my servant, whom I uphold! ISRAEL, my
chosen one, with whom my soul is pleased!
Conflation of Texts


2 Samuel 22:38-39
the MT Form

Qumran
4QSam
a
The LXX Form
until finishing them.
And I finished them
Attraction and Assimilation

Genesis 17:14
The MT Form


The Samaritan Pentateuch Form
on the eighth day
Imported from Leviticus 12:3
whoever is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Shortening the Text
Haplography = Copied Once where twice was needed, or Dropping Out.

Judges 20:13
The MT (K) Form

The MT (Q) Form

The original form with no spaces
This
Derives
From
This
Paralepsis = Overlooking
1 Samuel 12:8


when Jacob went to Egypt and your Fathers cried out to Yahweh.


when Jacob went to Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed
then, and your fathers cried out to Yahweh.
The MT Form
The LXX Form shows that the original was longer and that the scribe overlooked,
or skipped from one mitzraim to the second mitzraim.
Orthographic Confusion






Dalet and re are similar and often
mistaken for one another.
He and et are similar and often
mistaken for one another.
B, ph, and kaph can be
confused for one another
Metathesis (Transposition)


And Moses went and spoke these words, Deuteronomy 31:1 The MT Form


And Moses finished speaking these words, 4QDtn = LXX Form