Aileen Choi Hebrew Exegesis I Textual Criticism Reflection Paper November 19, 2013

There is a need for textual criticism for many different reasons, but the author rather starts with why many do not see the need for textual criticism for the Old Testament. But one of the main points that he addresses regarding the necessity of textual criticism is that just because the Old Testament was transmitted with great care, does not mean that the transmission and translation is perfect and not in need of further exegesis. Therefore, there is a continuous need today that we are required to learn the original languages, critically observe current translations that we do have, and be able to identify better translations that remain faithful to the original author s intent. And now the question turns from why textual criticism into how do we do textual criticism. The first crucial element that a textual critic needs to know is the basics of the history of the transmission of the Old Testament. The ancient exegetes worked to figure out the original wording of the text, and our job today as current critics are to find the final form. This is because, as mentioned earlier, none of the current transmissions are perfect and completely accurate. This also implies that there are errors in the ancient manuscripts, translations, and current translations that we do have, but it is important to keep in mind that these

factors cannot and does not invalidate both the Old and New Testaments. We believe the Scriptures were inspired by God and that it is therefore credible. Different writings in the Ancient Near East include Sumerian writing, Akkadian writing, Egyptian writing, and Alphabetic writing. These are all developments throughout the history of writing for the final alphabetic script that we have today. Regarding the Old Testament, it is most likely and reasonably that Moses knew how to read and write, not only his own native Hebrew (Canaanite) language, but also Egyptian hieroglyphics. This gives further credibility to the writing of the Old Testament and shows that knowledge of the original language plays a key role in writing and transmission. It is known that the Old Testament writings had to be repeatedly written over and over again in order for text preservation, and this was a very common practice among the ancient times. Text transmission before 300 B.C. were based on several elements, such as involving scrolls instead of a full book form, consonantal spelling without vowels indicated, the supposed practice of continuous writing, and finally the major revision of Hebrew grammar that came around 1350 B.C. This means that the Old Testament text has been modified throughout time in different ways. Concerning Qumran findings, Frank Cross concludes that three

families of manuscripts are known for the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets, while only two are attested for the Latter Prophets. Later what was known to be the Masoretic Text became the standardized text that substituted for the three families of manuscripts that Cross mentions. Now we turn our focus to the period of textual transmission from A.D. 135 to 1000 that can be divided into two parts of history: (1) the transmission of the standard text by Jewish rabbis from A.D. 135 to 500, and (2) the textual activities of the Masoretes from A.D. 500 to 1000. The next period is from A.D. 1000 to 1450, and finally the current historic period we are today is from A.D. 1450 to now. As one can easily tell, the history of textual transmission is very long. As the author says, due to this long history and considering the time of effort that it took to preserve and transmit the texts, it isamazing that we have any Old Testament. There are ancient versions of the Old Testament, meaning that the Old Testament text was transmitted into languages other than Hebrew. These include the Samaritan Pentateuch, Targums (Aramaic translations), Greek versions, and other ones such as Peshitta, Old Latin, and last but not least, the Latin Vulgate. Although not an ancient transmission, the Dead Sea Scrolls are important to mention within the larger scope of history of the Old Testament. This influences the canon, development of Hebrew and Aramaic dialects, ancient scripts, etc.