Bible Question:
I've enjoyed reading the works by Metzger including "Metzger's Textual Commentary on the Greek NT", and his book the, "New Testaments Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration". Does anyone know of any similar books for the Old Testament? Thanks! Huron |
Bible Answer: Wow! I'm getting hit from all ends. First I mistakenly assumed the Masoretic Text was codified if you will. However I was just informed there is a fair share of controversy there also. It seems a man called Abraham Ben Chayyim sometime in and around 1524-25 translated and wrote what was known as the Ben Chayyim Masoretic Text. Everything was based off of it until the works of done by Ben Asher Masoretic Text was found and thought to be based off the Leningrad manuscripts dated as 1008. However it was later found that Asher has actually used some minor manuscripts. In any case in and around 1937 Kittel switched his Biblia Hebraica from the Ben Chayyim Masoretic Text to Ben Asher Masoretic Text however later additions now known as Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia are based off Ben Asher’s works and the Leningrad Codex dated 1008. It is all so very confusing I always just called it the Masoretic text and thought everything was fine. Here is the story in the words of the NKJV editiors. The Old Testament Text The Hebrew Bible has come down to us through the scrupulous care of ancient scribes who copied the original text in successive generations. By the sixth century A.D. the scribes were succeeded by a group known as the Masoretes, who continued to preserve the sacred Scriptures for another five hundred years in a form known as the Masoretic Text. Babylonia, Palestine, and Tiberias were the main centers of Masoretic activity; but by the tenth century A.D. the Masoretes of Tiberias, led by the family of ben Asher, gained the ascendancy. Through subsequent editions, the ben Asher text became in the twelfth century the only recognized form of the Hebrew Scriptures. Daniel Bomberg printed the first Rabbinic Bible in 1516–17; that work was followed in 1524–25 by a second edition prepared by Jacob ben Chayyim and also published by Bomberg. The text of ben Chayyim was adopted in most subsequent Hebrew Bibles, including those used by the King James translators. The ben Chayyim text was also used for the first two editions of Rudolph Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica of 1906 and 1912. In 1937 Paul Kahle published a third edition of Biblia Hebraica. This edition was based on the oldest dated manuscript of the ben Asher text, the Leningrad Manuscript B19a (A.D. 1008), which Kahle regarded as superior to that used by ben Chayyim. For the New King James Version the text used was the 1967/1977 Stuttgart edition of the Biblia Hebraica, with frequent comparisons being made with the Bomberg edition of 1524–25. The Septuagint (Greek) Version of the Old Testament and the Latin Vulgate also were consulted. In addition to referring to a variety of ancient versions of the Hebrew Scriptures, the New King James Version draws on the resources of relevant manuscripts from the Dead Sea caves. In the few places where the Hebrew was so obscure that the 1611 King James was compelled to follow one of the versions, but where information is now available to resolve the problems, the New King James Version follows the Hebrew text. The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. And I’m going to shut up. EdB |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Bible general Archive 2 | Author | ||
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MsGrant | ||
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justme | ||
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Marathonman1025 | ||
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eowens | ||
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Huron | ||
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Huron | ||
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Huron | ||
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EdB | ||
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Robert McCullough | ||
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Huron | ||
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Huron |