Program / Course 17: Defending Scripture / Lesson 3.3
What you will learn
- Describe the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint as witnesses to the Old Testament text.
- Explain what the Dead Sea Scrolls showed about the Hebrew text a thousand years before the Masoretic manuscripts.
- Give examples where these witnesses differ and say how scholars weigh them.
- State fairly the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox preferences about which text to use.
The big idea
The Old Testament text comes to us through three main streams. The Masoretic Text is the traditional Hebrew text, preserved by Jewish scribes, with manuscripts from the ninth to eleventh centuries of the common era. The Dead Sea Scrolls are far older Hebrew copies from before and around the time of Jesus. The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation. They agree in the great majority of places and differ in some, and the differences show that the text existed in more than one form in the last centuries before Christ.
Key terms
- Masoretic Text (MT)
- The standard Hebrew text of the Old Testament, with vowel signs and notes added by Jewish scholars called Masoretes between about the sixth and tenth centuries.
- Masoretes
- Jewish scribes in Tiberias and elsewhere who preserved the reading of the Hebrew Bible and added marks for vowels and accents.
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Manuscripts found from 1947 in caves near Qumran by the Dead Sea, dating from about the third century before Christ to the first century of the common era.
- Septuagint (LXX)
- The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, begun in Alexandria in the third century before Christ.
- Samaritan Pentateuch
- A form of the first five books preserved by the Samaritan community, which differs from the Masoretic Text in several thousand places, mostly minor.
- Vorlage
- A German word for the text that a translator had before him. Scholars ask what Hebrew Vorlage lay behind the Greek of the Septuagint.
- Codex Leningradensis
- A Hebrew manuscript of the whole Bible completed in the early eleventh century, the basis of most modern printed Hebrew Bibles.
Background
Until the twentieth century the oldest complete Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament were medieval. The Codex Leningradensis dates to about 1008 or 1009, and the Aleppo Codex, which is partly damaged, to the tenth century. Scholars could only compare these with the Septuagint and with ancient translations. They did not know how closely the medieval Hebrew matched the text of a thousand years earlier.
The discoveries at Qumran changed this. Fragments of nearly every book of the Hebrew Bible, except Esther, were found, along with other writings. They showed that the text of the Old Testament had been transmitted with remarkable care in many places, and also that several forms of the text existed side by side before the first century. Both of those findings are used in arguments, and both are true.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The Masoretic Text
The Masoretes worked from a consonantal text that had been fixed by about the first or second century. Hebrew was written without vowel letters in the early period, so readers relied on memory and tradition for pronunciation. The Masoretes added vowel points and accent marks, along with notes in the margins that counted words and letters and recorded unusual spellings. This work was done with great care.
The Masoretic Text is the basis for Jewish Bibles and for most Protestant translations of the Old Testament. Catholic translations since the twentieth century usually also use it, while consulting other witnesses. Orthodox churches use the Septuagint in worship and often translate it directly.
Step 2: The Dead Sea Scrolls
The great Isaiah scroll from Cave 1, which is complete, dates to about the second century before Christ. Compared with the Masoretic Text of Isaiah a thousand years later, it shows differences in spelling and a number of small variants, but the overall text is very similar. This was widely taken as evidence for a stable tradition.
Other scrolls differ more. Some agree with the Septuagint against the Masoretic Text, which shows that the Greek translators were sometimes translating a Hebrew text that differed from the later Masoretic form. Some resemble the Samaritan Pentateuch. Scholars such as Emanuel Tov have described several text types at Qumran, with the proto-Masoretic type the most common. The scrolls therefore support both the care of transmission and the existence of variety.
Step 3: The Septuagint
According to a legendary story in the Letter of Aristeas, the Torah was translated into Greek by seventy-two translators for the library at Alexandria. Historians think the translation of the Torah was made in the third century before Christ and the rest followed. The quality varies from book to book, and some books are very literal while others are freer.
Where the Septuagint differs from the Masoretic Text, it may reflect a different Hebrew text, a translator’s interpretation or a later change. Jeremiah in the Septuagint is about one eighth shorter than in the Masoretic Text and arranges some sections in a different order, and Qumran has Hebrew fragments that match the shorter form. The story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 is also considerably shorter in the Septuagint. In some places the early Christians followed the Greek reading, such as the use of virgin in Isaiah 7:14 where the Hebrew word almah means a young woman.
Step 4: Weighing the witnesses
Scholars treat the Masoretic Text as the basic witness for most books, because of its care and its Hebrew basis, and use the others to check it and to resolve difficulties. Where the Masoretic reading seems damaged or hard to understand, the scrolls and Septuagint may help. One example is Deuteronomy 32:8, where the Masoretic Text speaks of the sons of Israel, and a Dead Sea fragment and the Septuagint speak of sons of God or angels. Many scholars prefer the second reading as original, and others do not.
Traditions differ in their view of what ought to be the standard. Many Protestants and Jews prefer the Hebrew Masoretic Text as the original language form. Catholics and Orthodox, who treat the Septuagint as the Bible of the early church, give it weight too. Critics of a strictly Masoretic approach say it favors one form of the text. Critics of a Septuagint approach say that a translation cannot outweigh the Hebrew.
- What did the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls change in what scholars could say about the Hebrew text?
- Why might a translator produce a Greek text that differs from the Hebrew we have?
- How would you explain the difference between a variant caused by a translator and one caused by a different Hebrew text?
- Why might the church fathers have preferred the Septuagint?
- What reasons are there for treating the Masoretic Text as the standard, and what reasons for not doing so?
- How does the existence of more than one form of Jeremiah affect your idea of what the original text was?
Examples
The Great Isaiah Scroll
The Isaiah scroll found in Cave 1 is complete and about seven meters long. It is a thousand years older than the oldest complete Masoretic manuscript. The two texts agree in nearly all their content, including passages Christians read as pointing to Christ, which was widely noted when it was first published.
Deuteronomy 32:8
The Masoretic Text says God fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. A Qumran fragment and the Septuagint speak of the sons of God, or angels. Scholars debate which is original and what the verse meant in its setting.
Isaiah 7:14
The Hebrew has almah, which means a young woman, and the Septuagint translates it parthenos, which usually means virgin. Matthew 1:23 quotes the Greek. Jewish and some Christian scholars point out the difference in the words, while Christian tradition has read the verse as a prophecy of the virgin birth.
Different perspectives
Jewish
Jewish tradition values the Masoretic Text as the faithful transmission of the Hebrew Scriptures, and rabbinic practice requires exact copying of the consonantal text. Jewish scholars study the scrolls and the Septuagint as evidence for the text’s history.
Protestant
Protestant translators since the Reformation have used the Hebrew Masoretic Text as their basis, in line with the principle of going to the sources, and they consult the scrolls and Septuagint to correct apparent errors. Many Protestants note that the scrolls confirm the reliability of the transmission.
Catholic
Catholics have long honored the Latin Vulgate, translated by Jerome from the Hebrew. Modern Catholic translations such as the New American Bible work from the Hebrew, with the Septuagint and other versions consulted. The Council of Trent approved the Vulgate for public use, without placing it above the originals.
Orthodox
The Septuagint is the Old Testament of the Orthodox churches. Orthodox writers argue that it was the Bible of the apostles and the Fathers, and that it should be the base for the church’s liturgy and translation, while accepting that the Hebrew has a role in study.
Scholarly
Textual scholars treat the Masoretic Text as the main witness while recognizing that the scrolls show a plurality of texts in the Second Temple period. They differ on how far to correct the Masoretic Text from other witnesses, and on whether the goal is the earliest recoverable text or each stage of the text.
Why it matters
The Old Testament is read by Jews, Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox in different forms. Knowing what the three witnesses are, and how they relate, lets you understand why footnotes in an Old Testament so often say that the Hebrew reads one way and the Greek another. It also gives a balanced answer to claims on both sides: the scrolls show that the Hebrew text was handed down with great care, and they also show that the text was not a single fixed form in every place.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: The Dead Sea Scrolls proved that the Old Testament has never changed.
Correction: They showed the Masoretic type of text to be very old and carefully copied, but also showed other forms of the text, some differing at length. The accurate statement is that transmission was careful and the text was not uniform.
Misunderstanding: The Septuagint is a poor and unreliable translation.
Correction: Its quality varies by book, but it is valuable evidence for a Hebrew text older than any Masoretic manuscript, and the New Testament authors often quote it.
Misunderstanding: Christians changed Isaiah 7:14 to find the virgin birth.
Correction: The Greek translation was made centuries before Christ by Jewish translators who chose parthenos. Whether that rendering was the best is debated, but it did not originate as a Christian alteration.
Misunderstanding: The Masoretic Text is the original Hebrew text.
Correction: It is a medieval form of a text with ancient roots. It is usually the best starting point, but in some places other witnesses preserve an earlier reading.
Knowledge check
What is the Masoretic Text and who made it?
It is the standard Hebrew text of the Old Testament, preserved and annotated by Jewish scribes called Masoretes from about the sixth to the tenth centuries. They added vowel points, accents and notes to a consonantal text that had been fixed earlier. The oldest complete manuscripts, such as the Codex Leningradensis, date to the early eleventh century.
What did the Dead Sea Scrolls show about the Old Testament text?
They showed that the Hebrew text had been copied with great care over a thousand years, since the Isaiah scroll agrees closely with the Masoretic Text. They also showed that other forms of the text existed, some agreeing with the Septuagint or the Samaritan Pentateuch. The scrolls therefore support both stability and variety in the early text.
Why can the Septuagint differ from the Masoretic Text?
A difference may come from a different Hebrew text that the translators used, from the translators’ interpretation or style, or from later changes in either text. Qumran fragments of Jeremiah that match the shorter Greek text show that some differences come from the Hebrew. Each case has to be judged separately.
How do the traditions differ on which text to prefer?
Jews and most Protestants take the Hebrew Masoretic Text as the base, Catholics work from the Hebrew while valuing the Vulgate and Septuagint, and Orthodox churches use the Septuagint as their Old Testament. All of them compare the witnesses in study. The disagreement reflects different views of which text carries the church’s authority.
Think it through
- How does it change your view of the Old Testament to know that more than one form of some books existed?
- Which difference between the Hebrew and Greek texts do you find most interesting, and why?
- How would you answer a friend who says the Dead Sea Scrolls prove the Bible is perfectly preserved?
Independent assignment
Compare two readings
In your own notebook, choose one of the examples in this lesson (Deuteronomy 32:8 or Isaiah 7:14). Find it in two translations whose footnotes differ. Write 300 to 400 words laying out each reading, what text it is based on, how a scholar might choose between them and what you think is most reasonable. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Read the introduction and compare the translation of Isaiah 7:14 with a Christian Bible.
- Origen, On First Principles (De Principiis) Read selectively where Origen discusses the Hebrew and Greek texts.
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Read the chapter on early versions for the context of the Greek and other translations.
- Justin Martyr, The First Apology Read selectively to see how an early Christian used Old Testament prophecy.
- Isaiah 7:14 The verse at the center of the almah and parthenos discussion.
- Matthew 1:23 Matthew’s quotation of Isaiah.
- Deuteronomy 32:8 A verse with different readings in the Hebrew and Greek.