on the one hand, and the uniformly replicated MT-type biblical texts attested at Masada
on the other hand, Young suggests that copies of the biblical scrolls made in the period
represented by the Qumran finds were not replicated with the same level of exactitude as
were later copies, such as those from Masada. He suggests that there was a change in
copying practices between the first century B.C.E. and the first century C.E. The earlier
practice of copying biblical scrolls non-uniformly transitioned to a later practice of exact
copying that produced very uniform texts. He thus argues for the ‘stabilisation’ of the
biblical text at some time between the deposit of the scrolls in the caves near Qumran and
the deposit of the scrolls at Masada.
A second approach to our methodological problem can be found in the analysis of scroll-
types by Emanuel Tov.^708 This analysis recalls the well known categorisation of authori-
manuscript written in a formal hand..., let alone a stratified sequence of dated texts at some archaeological
site at which the first appearance of distinctive script characteristics (at that site) could be dated to individ-
ual quarter- or half-centuries” (G. Doudna, 4Q Pesher Nahum, 777). This is one reason why Young main-
tains that “we must take the first century B.C.E. dating proposal seriously, and investigate its claims accor-
dingly” (I. Young, "The Stabilization of the Biblical Text," 382). The main arguments that are supplied for
this view are the lack of historical references post-dating 40 B.C.E. within the textual corpus at Qumran
outlined in M.O. Wise, The First Messiah: Investigating the Saviour Before Jesus (San Fransisco: Harper,
1999), and issues with the radiocarbon dating put forward in G. Doudna, "Dating the Scrolls on the Basis of
Radiocarbon Analysis," The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (eds P.W.
Flint and J.C. Vanderkam; 2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1998) 430-71. See the complete list of references in I.
Young, "The Stabilization of the Biblical Text," 380-382, n. 38-43). 708
See E. Tov, "The Biblical Texts from the Judaean Desert: An Overview and Analysis of the Published
Texts," The Bible as Book: The Hebrew Bible and the Judaean Desert Discoveries (eds E.D. Herbert and E.
Tov; London: The British Library & Oak Knoll Press, 2002), and E. Tov, Scribal Practices and Ap-
proaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert (Leiden: Brill, 2004) 126-27. An earlier analy-
sis is available in E. Tov, "The Significance of the Texts from the Judean Desert for the History of the Text
of the Hebrew Bible: A New Synthesis," Qumran Between the Old and the New Testament (eds F.H. Cryer
and T.L. Thompson; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998) 277-309.