The Old Testament Text History and Transmission I. Introduction A. Let us give some consideration to a major portion of our Bibles B. The Old Testament C. 39 books out of the 66 books of the New Testament 1. what is their history? 2. how have they come down to us? 3. how do we know that we have an accurate text? D. Let us spend some time in the history and transmission of the Old Testament text, so that we may be confident in our Bibles II. History of the Text: 1500-200 BCE A. We can roughly sketch approximately when texts were written 1. Important note: oldest text from some portion of the Bible is 7th century BCE (see below), but vast majority of texts from 2nd century BCE and later 2. All information below about when texts were written based on internal clues from the text, not empirical evidence B. Sources and Editing/Glosses 1. We also have to account for the fact that Biblical texts have an original source and perhaps were exposed to later editing or glossing 2. Editing: organization of material 3. Glossing: addition of material for understanding 4. Examples of editing: prophetic books-- collections of oracles compiled by some editor, the prophet himself or someone later; historical books 5. Example of glossing: Deuteronomy 2: additional comments about various groups mentioned, written from a post-conquest perspective C. Texts: 1500-530 BCE 1. Most OT texts written in these times 2. Earlier (1500-900): Pentateuch 3. United Kingdom (1000-900): Joshua-Judges, many Psalms, Proverbs, SSolomon, Eccl. 4. Early Divided Kingdom (900-700): 1-2 Samuel 5. Late Divided Kingdom/Exile (700-530): 1 Kings-2 Chron., prophetic books D. First Copy of Biblical Text: Ketef Hinnom "Silver Scroll" 1. dates ca. 600 BCE 2. contains the "Priestly Blessing," Num. 6:24-26 E. Texts: 530-450 BCE 1. Last texts written 2. Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi F. Texts: 450-200 BCE 1. Shift from writing of texts to interpretation of texts 2. Seen in Ezra reading the Law and then interpreting it 3. Necessitates compiling and copying texts III. Textual Transmission: 1500-200 BCE A. Textual Transmission: 1500-586 BCE 1. Little known about textual transmission 2. Evidence of texts being written down, many possibly maintained in some form of royal library 3. All/parts of Pentateuch in Temple 4. Texts possibly show great variance, or maybe little variance-- no information B. Textual Transmission: 586-300 BCE 1. After destruction of Jerusalem, great need seen to preserve Scriptures 2. many other texts probably destroyed 3. possible editing of texts 4. probable existence of different textual families C. Textual Transmission: 300-150 BCE 1. Definite existence of different textual families 2. ca. 280: beginning of translation of Septuagint (LXX; Greek translation of the Bible) 3. Septuagint exhibits many differences from the MT (discussed below) D. Textual Transmission 150 BCE-70 CE 1. Beginning of textual standardization 2. No formal "canon," but beginning consolidation of views of inspired vs. uninspired books E. Biblical Manuscripts: Dead Sea Scrolls 1. ca. 250 BCE- 68 CE 2. Found in 1947 in Judean desert 3. Remnants of texts from Qumran community 4. Many Biblical texts preserved 5. Vast majority of texts agree with our MT 6. Some variants conform to LXX readings 7. Other variants completely new F. Textual Transmission: 70-1450 CE 1. Destruction of Jerusalem leads to discussions between rabbis at Jamneh (Jamnia); essential canon agreed upon 2. Transmission of Hebrew texts placed in hands of special group of scribes 3. in Middle Ages, called Masoretes-- Masoretic Text 4. Vocalization added ca. 500-700 CE 5. Text extremely stable-- Masoretes took great care of text, numbering letters and lines, adding textual notes (called the Masorah), leading to a text that changed little for over a millennium 6. With printing press in 1450 CE, textual transmission replaced with textual criticism G. Extant Manuscripts: 10th, 11th century codices 1. Aleppo Codex-- 925 CE a. three-quarters of Biblical text b. recognized as model codex 2. Leningrad Codex-- 1009 CE a. most complete text in its tradition b. basis of most critical editions of the Hebrew text IV. Evidence for the Text A. We have seen, then, that the OT texts we have went through many centuries of transmission before they came to us B. What evidence do we have for the text? C. History 1. archaeology has uncovered many texts from the ancient Near East that verify Biblical events 2. Moabite Stone and 2 Kings 3 3. Tel Dan inscription and the "House of David" 4. the "Sennacherib Prism" and the 701 BCE invasion of Judah by Assyria 5. Various texts relating to Babylonian invasions D. Other ancient versions also provide evidence for the text E. Greek: Septuagint (LXX) or Old Greek (OG) 1. translated in third century BCE, by Alexandrian Jews 2. somewhat problematic, since 4 later recensions made (Lucian, Symmachus, Theodotion, Hexaplaric) a. extant manuscripts come from 4th century CE-- Sinaiticus and Vaticanus b. some papyri fragments, but not much earlier c. sometimes difficult to sort out! 3. as said previously, variants demonstrate the LXX to have come from a Hebrew text in a different tradition than that of the MT 4. many readings in LXX, when retroverted into Hebrew, superior to MT readings 5. Verified in many instances by DSS F. Samaritan Pentateuch 1. Samaritans preserved a tradition of the Pentateuch, originally from the Jews 2. Adapted whenever possible to serve Samaritan interests 3. Earliest manuscript: 12th century CE; tradition goes back to ca. 5th century BCE 4. some variants agreeing with LXX over MT, some unique, although text is suspicious since it was tampered with for ideological reasons G. Latin Vulgate and Syriac Peshitta 1. Vulgate-- origins in 3rd century CE, written in late 4th century CE 2. Peshitta-- probably between 2nd-4th centuries CE 3. Secondary witnesses, since they follow as translations of the MT with help from the LXX 4. Texts for both, however, occasionally show unique and superior variants, since their text basis varies somewhat from MT H. Aramaic Targum 1. With Aramaic as more common language of Jews, Scriptures freely translated into Aramaic 2. Part of the Targum-- ca. 100 CE-1000 CE 3. Translations tend to be rather free, but sometimes present superior variants I. Other Texts/Versions 1. Coptic-- from Egypt, post-4th century CE 2. Ethiopic-- from Ethiopia, post 3rd century CE 3. Cairo Geniza-- 11th century, depository of old texts J. Other Witnesses 1. New Testament-- 1st century CE-- maintains many LXX readings, some translations from Hebrew 2. Patristics-- 2nd-9th centuries CE 3. Rabbinics-- 1st-7th centuries CE K. Value of Versions 1. Unlike the NT text, which was standardized early and has thousands of texts, the OT text is shrouded in obscurity 2. A manuscript that is very late may have variants that, in NT textual criticism, may be easily dismissed... 3. ...yet in OT textual criticism, the possibility exists that such a variant may have been faithfully transmitted over a long period of time 4. Since all extant manuscripts are rather late (Greek, 4th century CE; Hebrew, 11th century CE), more legitimacy given to other versions and later manuscripts V. Conclusion A. What, then, shall we say in regards to these things? B. While the OT is not as well-attested as the NT... C. ...thanks to versions and extra-Biblical accounts, we can be sure that the Old Testament we have is fairly accurate to the original texts D. We can have confidence in the Scriptures that Paul says are there that we might have hope (Romans 15:3) E. Songbook/Invitation F. Do you have hope in Jesus Christ? G. Have you obeyed Him? If not, you have no foundation for hope in Christ. Obey Him today! H. If you need encouragement to keep in the hope of Christ, come to the front as we stand and sing