Lessons from the Biblical Scrolls
In light of this review of the parade of biblical manuscripts from Qumran
and the major variants in the MT, SP, and OG that can be seen and appre-
ciated in clearer focus due to the Qumran scrolls, what lessons do they of-
fer? The first headline that immediately flashes is “textual pluriformity.”
The pluriformity, however, is not chaos but shows patterns that can be
clearly seen and intelligibly classified. There are four principal categories
of variation detectable through comparison of the Qumran manuscripts,
MT, SP, and OG: (1) orthography, (2) individual textual variants, (3) iso-
lated insertions, and (4) revised and expanded editions. Studies show that
these four types of variation operate on different levels unrelated to each
other.Orthography
The six centuries of the Second Temple period saw noticeable develop-
ment in the Hebrew language, and especially its spelling practices. Scribes,
through the insertion ofmatres lectionis,made early contributions to the
interpretational process that concluded with the Masoretes’ vocalization of
the texts. Since the text was sometimes ambiguous, the tendency toward
fuller spelling was helpful for correct reading and preservation of correct
understanding. Thematreswere inserted at times unintentionally, at times
intentionally, insofar as the source text may have had one spelling, but the
scribe nonetheless inadvertently or consciously wrote the word as he cus-
tomarily spelled it, regardless of the source text. Usually the fuller form
simply indicated the correct form more clearly and involved no change in
meaning. For example, in Isa. 8:19 the ambiguousha-}bwt,which could
mean “ancestors,” was correctly vocalized in 1QIsaaasha-}ôbôt,“ghosts,”
and similarly in the MT asha-}Zbôt.But in Isa. 40:6 the ambiguousw}mr
was interpreted in the MT as third person, whereas it was clarified as first
person in 1QIsaa.Individual Textual Variants
The human difficulty in accurately copying large amounts of complicated
text resulted in readings that differed from the parent text for virtually ev-138eugene ulrichEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:58 PM