Tag: Hebrew Old Testament

ORIGEN’S HEXAPLA: A Sixfold Text in Parallel Columns of the Old Testament

At the end of the second century, there were (at least) four competing Greek versions of the OT. Origen, one of the most important theologians in the Eastern church, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and was active in the middle of the third century CE. Aware of differences between the Greek and Hebrew texts, he set out to bring order and understanding to the confusing array of competing textual witnesses and to produce an edition that would account for those variations.

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The Crown of All Hebrew Manuscripts: The Aleppo Codex

BEFORE the discovery of the cache of Hebrew scrolls in the Dead Sea caves in 1947, aside from a few fragments, our Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts were from the late 9th to the 11th century C.E. That is but a mere thousand years ago when the original thirty-nine Hebrew Old Testament Bible books date from 2,500 to 3,500 years ago. Does this mean that prior to 1947, textual scholars and translators were uncertain about the Hebrew Bible that lies behind our English Old Testament? No, there was the most important Hebrew manuscript, which is called the Keter, the “Crown,” that originally contained all the Hebrew Scriptures, or the “Old Testament.”

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Manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures

The first list of the Old Testament manuscripts in Hebrew, made by Benjamin Kennicott (1776–1780) and published by Oxford, listed 615 manuscripts from libraries in England and on the Continent. Giovanni de Rossi (1784–1788) published a list of 731 manuscripts. The main manuscript discoveries in modern times are those of the Cairo Geniza (c. 1890)... Continue Reading →

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OTTC GENESIS 10:4: “Dodanim” or “Rodanim”?

Most of the MT has the reading “Dodanim” in verse 4 of chapter 10. On the other hand, the Greek Septuagint (LXX) and the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) and some Hebrew manuscripts have “Rodanim” in verse 4 of chapter 10. “Rodanim” is also found in the Masoretic Text (MT) at 1 Chronicles 1:7. However, many of the Hebrew manuscripts, as well as the Syriac Peshitta and the Latin Vulgate read “Dodanim.” ...

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OTTC GENESIS 4:8: “Let us go out into the field”?

The bracketed clause “let us go over into the field” is not found in the Codex Leningrad B 19A and the Aleppo Codex, nor is it found in the QT Qumran Texts (Dead Sea Scrolls; Scroll 4Q2). However, the reading is included in older Septuagint manuscripts and in SP, SYR, and VG.

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Evaluation of the Hebrew Old Testament Texts and Ancient Versions as to Their Usefulness for Textual Criticism

We are quoting extensively from the Old Testament textual scholars Ellis R. Brotzman and Eric J. Tully in their OLD TESTAMENT TEXTUAL CRITICISM: A Practical Introduction from Baker Publishing Group. However, there are a number of paragraphs that were written by Edward D. Andrews. Christian Publishing House will be beginning a free online Old Testament... Continue Reading →

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