The Hebrew has the reading “And Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.” in verse 13 of chapter 11. On the other hand, the Greek Septuagint (LXX) differs tremendously ...
OTTC ZECHARIAH 12:10 “look upon him whom they have pierced,” OR “look upon me whom they have pierced”?
The Father is the speaker here, the subject of this clause and the shift from the pronoun “me” to “him” in the next clause makes it sounds as though God the Father was the one to be pierced instead of Jesus. (John 19.37; Rev. 1;7)
OTTC GENESIS 11:12: Is it “thirty-five years” or “one hundred and thirty-five years”?
The Hebrew has the reading “thirty-five-years” in verse 12 of chapter 11. On the other hand, the Greek Septuagint (LXX) has “a hundred and thirty-five years” in verse 12 of chapter 11....
Benjamin Kennicott (1718 – 1783) Old Testament Textual Criticism Scholar
Benjamin Kennicott (4 April 1718 – 18 September 1783) was an English churchman and Hebrew scholar. Kennicott was born at Totnes, Devon. He succeeded his father as master of a charity school, but the generosity of some friends enabled him to go to Wadham College, Oxford, in 1744, and he distinguished himself in Hebrew and divinity. While an undergraduate he published two dissertations, On the Tree... Continue Reading →
OTTC GENESIS 10:24 “Arphaxad fathered Shelah” or “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [Shelah]”
The MT has the reading “Arphaxad fathered Shelah” in verse 24 of Genesis chapter 10. On the other hand, the Greek Septuagint (LXX) has “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [Shelah]” in verse 24 of Genesis chapter 10. ... Continue Reading →
OTTC GENESIS 10:23 “Mash” or “Meshech”?
Major Critical Texts and Manuscript Abbreviations of the Old Testament AC: Aleppo Codex AT: Aramaic Targum(s) B.C.E.: Before Common Era BHS: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Edited by Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph. Stuttgart, 1984. B 19A: Codex Leningrad c.: Circa, about, approximately LXX: The Greek Septuagint (Greek Jewish OT Scriptures in general and specifically used during of... Continue Reading →
OTTC HOSEA 14:2: Is “bulls” (MT) or “fruit” (LXX; 14:3) the original reading of the Hebrew text?
The MT has the reading “bulls” (פָרִים; farim) in verse 2 of chapter 14. On the other hand, the LXX: Greek Septuagint reads “fruit” (καρπὸν; fruit) in verse 2 of chapter 14. The Septuagint continues to be very much important today and is used by textual scholars to help uncover copyists’ errors that might have crept into the Hebrew manuscripts either intentionally or unintentionally. ...
OTTC GENESIS 5:22, 24: “pleased God” or “walked with God”
The BHS/MT has the reading “walked with God” in both verses 22 and 24 of chapter 5. On the other hand, we have a variant in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) that reads “Enoch was pleasing to God” in both verses 22 and 24 of chapter 5. The metaphor “walked with God” would have been deemed ...
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.
HEBREW TEXT: Earliest Translated Versions
Versions are translations of the Bible from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into other languages (or Hebrew into Greek). Translation work has made the Word of God accessible to billions of persons, who are incapable of understanding the original Biblical languages. The early versions of the Scriptures were handwritten and were, therefore, in the form of... Continue Reading →