THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITY: STATISTICS AND THE DIACHRONIC STUDY OF ANCIENT HEBREW

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 927-960
Author(s):  
Jarod Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Large Datasets ◽  
Dual Function ◽  
Statistical Tools ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Diachronic Study

In this article, I discuss three statistical tools that have proven pivotal in linguistic research, particularly those studies that seek to evaluate large datasets. These tools are the Gaussian Curve, significance tests, and hierarchical clustering. I present a brief description of these tools and their general uses. Then, I apply them to an analysis of the variations between the “biblical” DSS and our other witnesses, focusing upon variations involving particles. Finally, I engage the recent debate surrounding the diachronic study of Biblical Hebrew. This article serves a dual function. First, it presents statistical tools that are useful for many linguistic studies. Second, it develops an analysis of the he-locale, as it is used in the “biblical” Dead Sea Scrolls, Masoretic Text, and Samaritan Pentateuch. Through that analysis, this article highlights the value of inferential statistical tools as we attempt to better understand the Hebrew of our ancient witnesses.

ARAMAISMS: NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1080-1103
Author(s):  
Richard Dean
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Reliable Criterion ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Masoretic Text

For approximately two centuries scholars have sought to identify “Aramaisms” in Biblical Hebrew texts and utilise their presence as evidence for a post-exilic date of composition. In this article it is demonstrated that many features which have historically been identified as Aramaisms were not stable during the transmission of the Bible, as the presence or absence of Aramaic elements varies between the Masoretic Text and the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls. It is thus argued that the presence of Aramaisms is not a reliable criterion for linguistic dating as Aramaisms could often reflect Aramaic influence during a stage of the text’s transmission, rather than the time of its composition.

Writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls

2018 ◽  
pp. 324-341
Author(s):  
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Second Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Hebrew Word ◽  
The Dead

This chapter argues that the Writings was an evolving collection of scripture used in a wide variety of ways by the Dead Sea Scrolls community at Qumran (second century bce to first century ce). Though the Hebrew word Ketuvim (Writings) does not occur in the Scroll material, all but one (Esther) of the books contained therein are found. The plentiful and varied textual evidence at Qumran, and occasionally other Judean desert sites, is presented with special attention to the number of biblical and other manuscripts and place found; textual comparisons with the biblical Masoretic text and others (e.g., Septuagint); citations; and other interpretive uses in sectarian documents. The importance of the books in the Writings for the life of the late postexilic community of Qumran and the nature of the Dead Sea Scrolls biblical collection are, together, a constant focus of the study.

scholarly journals Inspiration and the Texts of the Bible

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Buchner
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Early Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Book Of Hebrews ◽  
Textual Research

This article seeks to explore what the inspired text of the Old Testament was as it existed for the New Testament authors, particularly for the author of the book of Hebrews. A quick look at the facts makes. it clear that there was, at the time, more than one 'inspired' text, among these were the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text 'to name but two'. The latter eventually gained ascendancy which is why it forms the basis of our translated Old Testament today. Yet we have to ask: what do we make of that other text that was the inspired Bible to the early Church, especially to the writer of the book of Hebrews, who ignored the Masoretic text? This article will take a brief look at some suggestions for a doctrine of inspiration that keeps up with the facts of Scripture. Allied to this, the article is something of a bibliographical study of recent developments in textual research following the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

Jeremiah

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin A. Sweeney ◽  
Shelley Birdsong
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Standard Form ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Divine Will ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the major prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible, although Rabbinic tradition sometimes places it first following Kings and prior to Ezekiel due to its thematic focus on destruction (b. Baba Batra 14b–15a). It presents the words of the prophet, Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, who lived in Jerusalem during the reigns of the Judean kings, Josiah (640–609 bce), Jehoahaz (609 bce), Jehoiakim (609–598 bce), Jehoiachin (597 bce), and Zedekiah (597–587 or 586 bce). Jeremiah was a Levitical priest from Anathoth, who resided in Jerusalem during the last years of the kingdom of Judah. Major events during the period ascribed to Jeremiah include the outset of King Josiah’s reforms (c. 628 bce), the death of Josiah (609 bce), the Babylonian subjugation of Judah (605 bce), Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews to Babylon (597 bce), the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (587–586 bce), and the assassination of Gedaliah (582 bce). Jeremiah interpreted the Babylonian subjugation of Jerusalem in 605 bce and the later destruction of Jerusalem in 587 or 586 bce as acts of punishment by YHWH, the G-d of Israel and Judah, for the people’s alleged failure to observe the divine will. Although the book of Jeremiah is largely concerned with destruction, it also holds out hope for the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, especially in Jeremiah 30–33. The book appears in two very distinctive forms from antiquity. The Hebrew Masoretic text (MT) is the standard form of Jeremiah in Jewish Bibles, but the Greek Septuagint (LXX) form of the book is approximately one-eighth shorter and displays a very different arrangement of materials (e.g., the oracles concerning the nations in MT Jeremiah 46–51 appear following portions of Jeremiah 25 in the LXX form of the book). The Dead Sea Scrolls likewise include remnants of early Hebrew forms of both of these versions. Scholarly consensus maintains that both versions grew out of a common original text, although the issue is still debated.

Four Fragments of the Hebrew Bible from Antinoopolis, P.Ant. 47–50

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-216
Author(s):  
Jelle Verburg ◽  
Tal Ilan ◽  
Jan Joosten
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Critical Edition ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Dark Period ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
The Third ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Cairo Genizah ◽  
Epigraphic Evidence

An expedition of the Egypt Exploration Society in 1913–14 discovered four fragments of the Hebrew Bible (from the books of Kings and Job). This article presents the first critical edition of the fragments. With a few minor exceptions, the fragments conform to the Masoretic Text. The possible datings of these fragments range from the third to the early eighth centuries ce. Very little is known about the transmission of the text of the Hebrew Bible in the so-called ‘silent’ or ‘dark’ period between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Cairo Genizah. The fragments also testify to the presence of a Jewish community in Egypt – which was virtually eradicated after the revolt of 115–17 ce. The article gives a brief overview of the extant documentary and epigraphic evidence to reconstruct the forgotten story of Jews at Antinoopolis in Late Antiquity.

scholarly journals Mencari Jejak-jejak Autograf Perjanjian Lama di dalam Septuaginta

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Brando V. Kondoj
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Textual Studies ◽  
Authoritative Text ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Critical Method ◽  
The Dead

Untuk sekian lama, Septuaginta sebagai terjemahan Kitab Suci Ibrani yang pertama telah dipinggirkan dan tidak memperoleh tempat dalam usaha untuk mencari autograf (naskah asli Alkitab) Perjanjian Lama yang telah lama hilang itu. Namun demikian, perkembangan terbaru dalam studi terhadap naskah-naskah kuno Alkitab justru menunjukkan bahwa Septuaginta memiliki sumbangsih besar dalam pencarian autograf Perjanjian Lama. Hal ini dibuktikan melalui penggunaan metode kritik tekstual oleh para sarjana Alkitab, yakni dengan melakukan penelitian dan perbandingan terhadap naskah-naskah kuno Alkitab Perjanjian Lama, seperti Teks Masoret, Pentateukh Samaria, Gulungan Laut Mati, dan Septuaginta. Kata-kata kunci: Septuaginta, autograf Perjanjian Lama, metode kritik tekstual, Teks Masoret, Pentateukh Samaria, Gulungan Laut Mati. English :  For too long the Septuagint, the first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, has been sidelined and not given a credible hearing in seeking to discern the text of the original autographs of the Old Testament which have been lost in antiquity. Even though that has been the case, the new direction in recent textual studies, which has focused on the meaning of the original autographs of the Old Testament, has recognized that the Septuagint has a significant contribution to make within this field of study. This position has been supported by Biblical scholars who have employed the Text Critical method in determining the authoritative text of the Old Testament. They employ the Text Critical method in their comparison of the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, The Dead Sea Scrolls and most recently, the Septuagint to find traces of the original OT autographs. Keywords: Septuagint, Old Testament autographs, text critical method, Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, The Dead Sea Scrolls.

Discord between the Tiberian Written and Reading Traditions

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-280
Author(s):  
Aaron D. Hornkohl
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Linguistic Development ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Real Language ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Biblical Sources

Aaron Hornkohl examines two features in the Tiberian reading tradition of Biblical Hebrew, namely the qal construct infinitive and the 3ms possessive suffix that is attached to plural nouns and some prepositions. The article argues that although the vocalisation in both cases is secondary relative to what is represented by the consonantal text, it is not artificial and post-biblical, but rather a relatively ancient product of the real language situation of an earlier period, namely, the Second Temple Period, if not earlier. The view that the vocalisation has such historical depth and is the result of natural linguistic development is often dismissed by biblical scholars. By examining the distribution of forms within the Tiberian Masoretic version of the Hebrew Bible and in extra-biblical sources, especially the Dead Sea Scrolls and First Temple period epigraphy, Hornkohl convincingly demonstrates that the incongruity between the vocalisation and the consonantal text is earlier than Rabbinic Hebrew (second–third centuries CE).

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