How We Got the Bible Part 4: Determining the Best Hebrew Reading

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The three main groups of textual traditions for the Hebrew Bible are the Masoretic Text Group, the Samaritan Pentateuch Group, and the Septuagint Group. Masoretic Text manuscripts include the Aleppo Codex, the Leningrad Codex, the Saint Petersburg Codex, the London Codex, the University of Michigan Codex, the Damascus Codex, and the University of Bologna Codex. Other ancient Hebrew Bible manuscripts include the Ein Gedi scrolls, the Nash Papyrus, the Ketef Hinnom Scroll, hundreds of fragments from the Cairo Genizah, and 227 scrolls from Qumran and the surrounding Judean Desert (the “Dead Sea Scrolls”). Ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible include 150 ancient manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint and its revisions (including revisions by Aquilla, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Origen), the Aramaic Targums, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Latin Vulgate.

Our goal is the final form of the text. This is the published copy that the author intended to the promulgated. Whatever processes occurred prior to this in the development phase are the domain of literary or compositional studies. Textual criticism is concerned with working back through the transmission history of the text and establishing this final, authoritative version. The text is called “final” because it is the authoritative version at the end of any process of writing and development. But it is at the beginning of the transmission or copying phase. This is what many intend when they say that they are searching for the “original” text, but “final” is a more precise word for it and allows for the variety of ways that biblical books developed.

The first step of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is to gather all available manuscript evidence. The second step of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is to back-translate all ancient translations into Hebrew. The third step of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is to develop a hypothesis to explain how one reading of the text gave rise to any others. The fourth and final step of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is to choose the reading or emendation that is most likely the original.

The Biblia Hebraica I is a version of the Hebrew Bible compiled by Rudolf Kittel who used the Mikraot Gedolot of Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah as the principle text and added a critical apparatus with textual variants from the Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate. The Biblia Hebraic I was first published in 1906. The second edition, which corrected some errors in the first edition, was published in 1913.

The Biblia Hebraica III was published by Paul Kahle in 1937 on behalf of the Bible Society of Württemberg. In compiling the Biblia Hebraica III, Kahle used the Leningrad Codex as the principle text and also included the Masora Parva and Masora Magna. He also revised the apparatus.

The Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) is the fourth edition of the Biblia Hebraica and is also known as the Biblia Hebraica IV (BH4). It was first published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft (German Bible Society) in Stuttgart, Germany in 1977. It features a completely revised apparatus. The reader’s edition was published in 2014. In the critical apparatus, the editors sometimes suggest highly improbable emendations, give evidence for inconsequential matters, ignore evidence of serious textual issues, mix text-critical and literary issues, and count the quantity of witnesses rather than weighing the quality of them.

The Biblia Hebraic Quinta (BHQ) also knwn as the Biblia Hebraica V (BH5) is the 5th edition of the Biblia Hebraica. It has been in development since 2005. It features Hebrew text corrected from new images of the Leningrad Codex that were taken in the 1990s. It contains 20 volumes of commentary explaining the Masorah and discussing textual variants. The team developing the Biblia Hebraic Quinta includes Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant scholars from 13 countries. It features a revised apparatus with English abbreviations instead of Latin abbreviations.

The Hebrew Bible Critical Edition (HBCE) also known as the Oxford Hebrew Bible (OHB) is an eclectic edition of the Hebrew Bible that combines the best (or earliest) readings from various sources into a critical text, with the data and analyses provided in the accompanying apparatus and text-critical commentary. The Hebrew Bible Critical Edition aims to restore, to the extent possible, the manuscript that was the latest common ancestor of all the extant witnesses. The earliest inferable text is called the archetype. The archetype is not identical to the original text (however one defines this elusive term) but is the earliest recoverable text of a particular book.

[OmidWisdom]

I shared all 24 videos in these series with friends and family. I believe these videos are all worth several shares. God bless the seekers.

[rhondagilbert-puketapu]

I have watched all four of the contents, Im just astonished at the information provided, I have even taken notes and done a bit of research on other manuscripts he provided. This is jaw dropping stuff, I could listen to him all day he explains everything in terms I can easily follow. Thank You and Blessed Be

[martinmartin]

All of this is really exciting. It seems as though that there are some corruptions which persist to this day in both testaments.

[rainstormr]

Awesome video!
I liked this the best, in the series so far.
also, the slide-shots you included all through the video, were simply great.
Thanks a lot !

[kenneattavirtue-wynter]

Elohim blesses u. U did a great job with these videos. I love them so much and u have taught me so much. Not only have you taught me but u have answered so many questions i have had. Never forget there r a few like me that wants the truth about Elohim and his works and what u have taken the time to do the extent at which u go is just amazing. Keep doing this great work. Fuljoying the understanding of Elohim .

[remlalliana]

I think you deserve more views than this. Your presentation is simple and informative. Great job, keep going. May God Bless you

[dennistoufexis]

Amazing work, I am so impressed at the clarity of your presentation, and the evenhanded fairness.

[pjtrivino]

Thank you so much for these videos. I found them extremely insightful. God bless brother.

[everfreshlove]

Great stuff! Very beneficial information. I always wanted a presentation like this one! Thank you so much. God Bless!

[alexbukasaofficial]

Wow! You deserve more views. I am wondering where people at. Great channel and great contents. Thanks for the information.

God bless you sir

[iandomino]

There's a downpour of information in this 4th video but nonetheless very very helpful. God bless you.

[crappieman]

Really really? Love your presentation ! !

[christianbotello]

I can’t find any sources discussing the Oxford Hebrew Bible software. Can you find me some information explaining more of this?

[lisameyer]

Very good! I have one question though: You said the Targum dudnt have grave differences, but according to the Targum Jonathan, Cain was fathered by Samael. What say you?

[brentnichols]

What is the name and back ground of the narrator?

[arthurbostic]

What have you determined to be the pronunciation of the name of Elohym written 6, 828 times in the cannon of Hebrew Scriptures and many more times in the non-canonical writings?

[cherilynhamilton]

Now some are busy changing God's Word to use feminine words and remove man for human. Psalm 119:89 "thy word is settled in heaven".". Isaiah 40:89 "the word of our God shall stand for ever"

[Pandaemoni]

I was raised to believe the Scriptures were given to us by God and inerrant in its 1611 King James version, so there is nothing to learn from new sources in that view (except for wrong lessons). In fact. people were mystified when I started learning Hebrew because...why? The KJV is inerrant so there is nothing new to learn from outside sources (again, except for the wrong lessons). In the end it shook my faith in the KJV, which then forced me to leave my church. And that had ramifications among members of my family. So, from the point of view of my former KJV-only brothers and sisters, they were right.

[martinmartin]

I'll do an english translation which I will call the "american default bible" because "american standard bible" is already chosen and surely, my translation will be so great that it will surely become the default. Then I will discover that it is indeed not so perfect and that it needs adaptations to new manuscripts which will be found in the meantime. Then I will call it the "new american default bible" (NADB). However, then there will be even more manuscripts found in the meantime and since there will still exist those other pesky translations who won't admit their inferiority and then the whole universe will collapse because there will be no good name which I could choose.

[cherilynhamilton]

Scholars are arrogant to claim to be in charge of the Word of God. It is not to be changed. It is settled. The greatest set of translators finished translating God's Word in 1611 with typos fine tuned by 1769. The thy's and thou's are a Kingly language word choice fit for royalty! God promised to preserve his word. It is finished! Psalm 12:6-7