Subject: Re: tc-list Biblical Cruxes (Carlson)

From: "William L. Petersen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 10:35:49 -0500

Thanks for the comments.

--Petersen.

At 11:22 PM 1/30/99 -0500, you wrote:
>At 11:24 AM 1/27/99 -0500, William L. Petersen wrote:
>>A quick response to Steve Carlson, on one of his points:
>>
>>>My last point is on its application to synoptic source criticism. It is
>>>important to remember the time and place of theological acceptability.
>>>Even if Mk10:18 clearly means that Jesus is not God, which is arguable,
>>>who is to say that *first century* writers would be so troubled by it?
>>
>>I agree:  it is something of a puzzle.  But note your presupposition:  that
>>the Matthean text we now have is "first century". [...]
>
>First century changes are, of course, presupposed in "synoptic source
>criticism", to which I took the trouble to explicitly confine this one
>remark of mine.  The omitted reminders about text critical issues are
>therefore beside the point.
>
>>I am, therefore, reluctant to assume that these "theological changes"--if
>>that is what they are--were made in the "first century," as you submit.
>
>Actually, what I had submitted is that the commonly assumed,
christological unacceptability of Mk10:18 is, frankly, overstated.
>
>Stephen Carlson
>--
>Stephen C. Carlson                        mailto:[email-masked]
>Synoptic Problem Home Page   http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/synopt/
>"Poetry speaks of aspirations, and songs chant the words."  Shujing 2.35
>

---

From: "James R. Adair" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:05:53 -0500 (EST)

No one has addressed any Old Testament biblical cruxes yet, so let me list
a few.

1. The most obvious examples are the books like Daniel and Esther whose
Greek forms have substantial additional material (often called
deuterocanonical or apocryphal) in comparison with the Masoretic Text.

2. There are also other books that, taken as a whole, differ
significantly in the standard versions (i.e., MT and Rahlfs' LXX).  These
include (but are not limited to) Job, Proverbs, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and
Kings.  In the Greek version, numerous verses are left out, or added, or
rearranged, in comparison with the MT.

These first two categories are really examples of the overlap of textual
and literary (or source) criticism, similar to the case with the Synoptic
Gospels in the NT.

3. There are of course also numerous examples of important differences
among the OT witnesses that are of a more limited scope.  I'll list a few
of the more interesting ones.  (The following abbreviations are used: 
MT=Masoretic Text, xQyyy=Qumran ms, LXX=Septuagint (as represented in
Rahlfs' edition), SP=Samaritan Pentateuch, P=Peshitta, T=Targum,
V=Vulgate, Tiq Soph=scribal correction [noted in Masoretic mss],
Arm=Armenian.)

a. Gen 2:2--(God completed his work of creation on the) "seventh" (day):
MT V] "sixth": LXX SP P.  Most commentators think the reading of MT is
original, with LXX a scribal correction to emphasize that God did not in
fact work on the seventh day (Hendel, _The Text of Genesis 1-11_,
disagrees).

b. 1 Sam 3:13--(Eli's sons cursed) "themselves": MT P T (V)] "God":
Tiq soph LXX.  To avoid pronouncing the words "curse God" together, a
reading tradition developed that changed the words (cf. also Job 1:5, 11;
2:5, 9, where Tiq soph is not indicated).

c. Isa 53:11--(out of his anguish he shall see) "light": 1QIsa-a,b LXX]
omit: MT etc.

d. 1 Sam 17:12-31; 17:55-18:6--present in MT, absent in LXX.  This variant
really belongs to #2 above, but it's interesting enough to list
separately.  The story of David playing the harp for Saul is omitted in
LXX, so when Saul later asks who it is that has fought Goliath, he really
hasn't met him yet.

e. Deut 32:8--(Elyon fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the
number of the) "sons of Israel" MT V] "angels of God" LXX] "sons of God" 
4QDeut-q[?-maybe a different ms] LXX-848 Arm.  The presumably original
reading "sons of God" (which Wevers says is in fact the original reading
of LXX) was modified to accord more fully with monotheistic thinking. 

f. Judges 18:30--(ancestor of an idolatrous priest) "Manasseh" MT (some
mss with suspended nun) LXX-B] "Moses" LXX-A V.  The revered name of Moses
had to be protected, so a "nun" was added to transform it to Manasseh, the
name of the most wicked king of Israel.

g. Ps 100:3--(God made us,) "and not we ourselves" MT-kethib LXX] "and we
are his" MT-qere V(iuxta Heb) T Aquila.  This variation from lamed-alef to
lamed-waw (pronounced the same) shifts the meaning from the first to the
second of the variant readings.

h. Mal 1:1--(identity of the prophet) "Malachi" (a proper name) MT etc.]
"his messenger" (an anonymous prophet) LXX.  Malachi can mean "my
messenger," and a change in the final letter yields the LXX reading.

i. Isa 7:14--"a young woman" MT T Aquila Symmachus Theodotion] "virgin" 
LXX V.  Although LXX's translation originally had no theological
motivation (the LXX translation in Isaiah is generally a free
translation), Matthew's appropriation of the verse in Matt 1:23 gave the
LXX rendering added meaning among Christians.

j. Gen 5, genealogical list from Adam to Noah--
(A=age when successor born, B=balance of life, C=total years)

            MT-A   MT-B   MT-C    LXX-A  LXX-B  LXX-C    SP-A  SP-B   SP-C

Adam        130    800    930     230    700    930      130   800    930
Seth        105    807    912     205    707    912      105   807    912
Enosh        90    815    905     190    715    905       90   815    905
Kenan        70    840    910     170    740    910       70   840    910
Mahalalel    65    830    895     165    730    895       65   830    895
Jared       162    800    962     162    800    962       62   785    847
Enoch        65    300    365     165    200    365       65   300    365
Methuselah  187    782    969     167    802    969       67   653    720
Lamech      182    595    777     188    565    753       53   600    653
Noah        500    450    950     500    450    950      500   450    950

There are numerous differences in dates in the three versions of the
genealogy--cf. also the genealogy from Shem to Terah in Gen 11.

These are some of the more interesting textual problems in the OT/HB.

******************************************************
James R. Adair, Jr.
Director, ATLA Center for Electronic Texts in Religion
******************************************************