proved to exist before the first half of the second century C.E.,^18 based on the variants in
the early manuscript evidence.^19 Rather, the non-linear nature of interaction between re-
censions made it no longer possible to say that “the ‘one-recension’ central current did
not allow the occasional drop to trickle in from the side”.^20 As Talmon puts it, “... the
very notion of a Biblical textus receptus had not yet taken root at Qumran ... [there is not]
the slightest indication that even an incipit textus receptus did emerge [in the last decades
before the destruction of the Second Temple].”^21
This is not to say that there is no identifiable trend in the evidence from Qumran. In fact,
scholars have found tendencies away from particular recensions, as well as towards oth-
ers. For example, Cross shows evidence in the 4QSam manuscripts of a proto-Lucianic
recension which, in his terms, is a revision away from the Egyptian textual family to-
wards the Palestinian.^22 Trebolle Barrera has suggested that at least some sacred texts at
Qumran progress towards the proto-MT recension.^23 This is despite the view put forward
(^18) That is, at the end of his second period in the history of the biblical text (see M.H. Goshen-Gottstein,
"Hebrew Biblical Manuscripts," 244-48). In light of the Masada evidence, as argued by Young, this date
can be pushed back to before 70 C.E. See also the comments on Goshen-Gottstein’s position in E. Tov,
Textual Criticism 19 , 38-39.
20 M.H. Goshen-Gottstein, "Hebrew Biblical Manuscripts," 284-85.
21 M.H. Goshen-Gottstein, "Hebrew Biblical Manuscripts," 285.
22 S. Talmon, "Aspects of the Textual Transmission," 228-29.
F.M. Cross, "The Contribution of the Qumran Discoveries to the Study of the Biblical Text," IEJ 16
(1966) 88-90. 23
J. Trebolle Barrera, "Qumran Evidence for a Biblical Standard Text and for Non-Standard and Parabibli-
cal Texts," The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Historical Context (ed. T.H. Lim; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000)
91-92. It is the books most well known at Qumran, i.e. the Pentateuch, Isaiah, the XII Prophets and Psalms,
that seem to approach proto-MT over time “with exceptions” (see J. Trebolle Barrera, 98-99). This is sup-
ported by the comments in G.J. Brooke, "E Pluribus Unum: Textual Variety and Definitive Interpretation in