The text of the Old Testament

Today, whoever wants to read the OT in the original languages in a critical edition
must look for at least two places: for the 24 books of BH in the Biblia Hebraica
Stuttgartensia (BHS); then, for OT books that are not part of BH (i.e., Tob, Jdt, 1
Macc, 2 Macc, Wis, Sir and Bar, plus the Greek version of Esth and some parts of
Dan), one should consult a critical edition of the so-called Bible of the Seventy or the
Septuagint (LXX).

2.1. From Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) to the Proto-Masoretic text

2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
The BHS is the most recent complete critical edition of the BH. It was made in the
60s and 70s of the 20th century. The publication was concluded in 1977 (the last re-
edition dates back to 1997).
A new critical edition of BH is underway, the Biblia Hebraica Quinta. So far the
following volumes have appeared: BHQ 18. General Introduction and Megilloth (Gen.
ed A. Schenker, 2004); D. Marcus, BHQ 20. Ezra and Nehemiah (2006); C. McCarthy,
BHQ 5. Deuteronomy (2007); J. de Waard, BHQ 17. Proverbs (2007); A. Gelston, BHQ
13. The Twelve Prophets (2010); N. Fernández Marcos - D. Marcus, BHQ 7. Judges
(2011).

2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
The BHS does not present a reconstructed text, but merely reproduces the Codex
Leningradensis (L or B 19a), also called Codex of Saint Petersburg, to which is added
a critical apparatus with the main variants attested in other Hebrew manuscripts and
in the ancient versions.
The Codex L is from the Middle Ages; more concretely, it was completed in the year
1008/1009. It contains the 24 books of BH, in Hebrew and Aramaic, with the vowels
and the symbols of the Masoretes, that is, the so-called Masoretic text (MT).

2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
What is MT? It is the result of the work of the Masoretes, a name given to the Jewish
copyists who worked between the 6th – 9th centuries. In addition to copying the
texts, the Masoretes have added some marginal annotations (called “masorah,”
hence their name) and above all have added symbols to indicate the vowels to the
text, which until that time was only consonantal.

Below you can see an image of a manuscript containing

the MT, where two vowels are signaled.
2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
The addition of vowel points offers a great help in reading texts. But it is important
to keep in mind that in cases where the same consonants can be vocalized in
different ways the Masoretes have had to make choices. Thus, the MT contains in
itself at times some dubious interpretations.
In the 16th & 17th centuries, there was a very lively debate on the value of vowels in
the Hebrew text. For some, they were of divine origin; for others, however, they
were added after the composition of the books. Today we are sure that the second
was the right answer

2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
Here is a copy of a BHS page, which helps to understand the descriptions just made.
At the center of the page is the biblical text. Except for the numbers that signal the
verses, the rest is a reproduction of the text of Codex L.

2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
On the left are small notes. These words also come from Codex L. They are called
“masorah parva”—observations made by the ancient editors of the text, the
Masoretes.
At the bottom of the page, we find two types of annotations. Those above, with very
small characters, are references to the so-called “masorah magna,” i.e., to the other
comments of the Masoretes. On the other hand, the annotations below are the
critical apparatus, made by BHS publishers.

2.1.1. From BHS (20th century) to the Masoretic text (6th-9th century)
In addition to L, the MT is also preserved in other medieval manuscripts. Among
others the Codex of Aleppo (c. 925 AD) and the Codex of the Prophets of Cairo stand
out. The BHS is based on L mainly because it is complete, while the others lack some
parts.
At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem they have been working for a long time an
edition of the BH according to the MT which reproduces the text of Codex of Aleppo.
It is called The Hebrew University Bible. So far they have only published Isaiah
(1995), Jeremiah (1997) and Ezekiel (2004). For Pentateuch, publishers will have to
take another manuscript, because the Codex of Aleppo begins in Deut 28; the
previous pages have been lost.

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

To refer to the text of the BH preceding the work of the Masoretes, we speak of the
“Pre-Masoretic” or “Proto-Masoretic” text.
Before the period of the Masoretes, the transmission of the text was carried out by
copyists who are simply called scribes or soferim (2nd – 6th centuries). They only
copied the text without adding almost anything: the records that date back to this
era are very few. The preserved manuscripts of this period are few and, as
mentioned, present the text without vowels. In general, the more we go back in
time, the more the number of manuscripts of a text decreases (this principle
generally applies to all ancient texts).
2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT
According to some scholars, the text that copied by the soferim proceeds from a text
established or “fixed” between the 2 Jewish wars against Rome, i.e., between 70 and
130 AD. In this context, “fixing” the text means that the Jews have made a selection
of manuscripts of the Hebrew text, among the different ones that existed, on which
all the later copies depend.

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

This hypothesis is based on the fact that manuscripts of BH before 70 AD that we
know present important textual variants between them. In fact, among the texts
found at Qumran, although many have a text similar to MT, others present texts in
Hebrew closer to the LXX or to other ancient texts, such as the Samaritan
Pentateuch. On the other hand, manuscripts found at Wadi Muraba‘at and Nahal
Hever, which are all after the year 70, present a type of text almost identical to that
of the future MT.

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

During the 2nd war against Rome, the leader of the uprising, Bar Kochba, took refuge
with his men in some caves near the Dead Sea (Nahal Hever and Wadi Muraba'at). In
the 60s of the 20th century some manuscripts were discovered, containing letters
from the same Bar Kochba, biblical texts and other documents.
In fact, the oldest surviving BH manuscripts have been found in Qumran and are
from the 2nd - 1st centuries BC. Before Qumran and other 20th century discoveries,
the oldest known manuscripts of BH were all medieval manuscripts. Thanks to the
manuscripts of the Dead Sea, it has been possible to go back a millennium!

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

The consequences for the textual criticism of the analysis of these manuscripts can
be summarized in two points:
1) on the one hand, many biblical texts of Qumran are practically identical to the
consonantal text of MT, which confirmed the extraordinary fidelity with which this
text was transmitted by the rabbis for 10 centuries;
2) on the other, as we have said, other Hebrew biblical texts present at Qumran
have made known that before the year 70 there were different textual “families.”
This discovery led, among other things, to a revaluation of the Greek Bible.

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

The following quotes explain the same idea in other words (and in other languages):
“There can no longer be any reason to doubt that before the end of the 1st century a
recension of the text of the Hebrew Bible had been promulgated which had massive
authority, at least in Pharisaic circles, and which came to dominate the Jewish
community in the interval between the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and the
suppression of the revolt of Bar Kokeba (Koseba) in 135 C.E. … Certainly the Rabbinic
Recension became regnant only in the interval between the 2 Jewish revolts when
the Pharisaic party came wholly to dominate the surviving Jewish community and
rival parties diminished and disappeared, save as they survived in sectarian isolation,
especially in the continuing Christian and Samaritan sects. Rabbinic Judaism survived
and with it the Rabbinic Recension.” (F. M. Cross, From Epic to Canon: History and
Literature in Ancient Israel, 213.216.)

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

“The consonantal text transmitted by the medieval manuscripts dates back at least
to the last years of the 1st century AD. In this time or at the beginning of the 2nd
century AD, the consonantal text was definitively established… The representative
figure of this era is Rabbi Akiva, martyred in the year 132. His contribution to the
work of restoration of Judaism consisted above all in the work of fixing the Hebrew
consonantal text. Its link with the second Jewish revolt (132-135 AD) is significant
and the fact that the manuscripts of Wadi Muraba'at and Nahal Hever (Dead Sea),
also related to that revolt, show a text already stabilized, very close to the later
Masoretic text. These manuscripts are a reflection of the culmination of the process
of fixing the consonantal text, which had begun some time before. For this textual
setting, the rabbis did not proceed so much through the system of fusing several
texts, selecting the most common variants (as has been thought). Among the various
forms in which the text was transmitted before the year 70, the rabbis selected more
or less in toto the type of text, which may be called Proto-Masoretic.” (Trebolle
Barrera, La Biblia judía y la Biblia cristiana, 304.)

2.1.2. The transmission of the text before the MT

Other authors speak more generally of a fixing of the text in the 1st century, i.e., not
necessarily after 70.
On the transmission of the text of BH before Christ, we know almost nothing. As a
rather anecdotal information, it can be noted that some silver talismans from the 6th
century BC were found in a tomb with inscriptions in Ketef Hinnom (Jerusalem). In
one of them we read the so-called “priestly blessing” or of Aaron, in an almost
identical way to the MT of Num 6,24-26. We can say that it is the oldest “biblical”
text we know, although to say “biblical” in this case is certainly anachronistic. 

2.2. The Septuagint (LXX)

2.2.1. The origin of the translation
In general, scholars agree that the story of the Letter of Aristeas on the origins of the
LXX has a historical foundation. We have clear indications that confirm that in the
3rd century BC a Greek translation of the Pentateuch was made, which in the 2nd
century continued with the other books, as the prologue of Sirach tells us (the Letter
of Aristeas speaks only of the translation of the Torah of Moses).

2.2.1. The origin of the translation

There are several theories to explain how and why this version was born. Some think
that the origin of the LXX is not to be found in the initiative of King Ptolemy, but in
the need for the synagogue liturgy to have a text of the Torah that could be
understood by the Alexandrian Jews, since they did not understand Hebrew
anymore. Other authors suggest that the version had Jewish apologetic reasons, or
the purpose of spreading their culture; while for others it was really King Ptolemy
who forced the Jews to translate the Torah into Greek, so that it was their own law
that is followed within the community or simply because the Alexandrian library was
an instrument of political propaganda.

2.2.1. The origin of the translation

Without intentions to solve these problems, we can add that the story reported by
Aristeas on the origin of the Greek translation of the Pentateuch undoubtedly
showed that the translation was born with the approval of the religious authorities
of Jerusalem. Many see here an apologetic purpose, i.e., an attempt to defend the
legitimacy of the translation, in front of some Jewish groups that considered it
sacrilege or at least illicit to translate the Torah.

2.2.1. The origin of the translation

In fact, later, the story will be increased with some “miracles,” to show that God
approved the translation. Philo of Alexandria, talking about the origin of the LXX
version, says that the translators were taken to an island and there:
“As inspired by the divinity, they prophesied not one and the other a thing, but all
the same names and the same words, as if an invisible prompter whispered them to
each ear.” (Vita Mosis II, 37)

2.2.1. The origin of the translation

Then, some Fathers of the Church repeated this story, further enriching it with
supernatural elements. Both for this reason and for others, many Christians
considered—even in more recent times—that the Greek translation of OT had
indeed been inspired by God.

2.2.2. Transmission of the Greek Bible; the four great uncial codices
All manuscripts containing the Bible in Greek after the 3rd century were copied by
Christians. In fact, in the 3rd century AD the rabbis definitively forbid all the
translations of the Bible. Before this date, some Jews had tried to make Greek
translations more “faithful” to the Hebrew text: the most famous is that of Aquila.
Later, in the Talmud it is said that the day on which the Torah was translated was so
hard for Israel, as the day when the sin of the golden calf was committed (Sôferim
1,7-8).

2.2.2. Transmission of the Greek Bible; the four great uncial codices
Although the Greek Bible manuscripts belong to the overwhelming majority of the
Christian era, some older fragments have been found near the Dead Sea (Qumran
and Nahal Hever). Among these non-Christian witnesses, stands out the scroll with
the 12 Minor Prophets in Greek (8HevXIIgr) found at Nahal Hever. It is from the 1st
century AD.

2.2.2. Transmission of the Greek Bible; the four great uncial codices
Among the numerous Christian manuscripts, we need to know the name of the 4
great codices that contain the whole Bible in Greek. They are the oldest manuscripts
that contain both the OT (the LXX) and the NT:
• Codex Vaticanus (B), 4th century, is preserved in the Vatican Library.
• Codex Sinaiticus (S or ‫)א‬, fourth century, is in the British Museum, London. Has
been discovered in 1859 by Constantin von Tischendorf in the library of the
Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai. Recently, a new piece of this codex was found
randomly in the same monastery.

2.2.2. Transmission of the Greek Bible; the four great uncial codices
• Codex Alexandrinus (A), 5th century, is also found in the British Museum.
• Codex Ephraemi Syri Rescriptus (C), 5th century, is in Paris. It is called thus
because it is a palimpsest: over the biblical text the works of St. Ephrem the Syrian
were copied in the Middle Ages.
All four codices are parchments. They are written in capital letters and for this they
are called “uncials;” the use of small letters began much later.

2.2.3. The critical editions

Making a critical edition of the Greek OT is a very difficult task. One should consult
not only direct witnesses (i.e., manuscripts containing biblical books), but also the
numerous indirect witnesses of the text, which come mainly from the OT quotations
made by the authors of the NT and the Greek-speaking Fathers of the Church. The
authors of the NT write in Greek and therefore quoted the OT in Greek. But the
quotations do not always correspond to the LXX as we know it, either because they
cited from memory, or because there were other translations into Greek.

2.2.3. The critical editions

Due to these difficulties, it is not surprising that there are 3 principal editions of the
LXX: the manual edition of Rahlfs, the Cambridge edition and the Göttingen edition,
the latter still being published.
That of Alfred Rahlfs is a “manual” edition in the sense that it does not claim to
contain all the existing variants, but to offer a text that is easy to consult and use.
The Rahlfs is mainly based on B, S and A. The 1st edition is from 1935; then it was
reprinted in 1979. In 2006 a 2nd edition was published, with some corrections made
by R. Hanhart: A. RAHLFS (ed.), Septuaginta: Id est Vetus Testamentum Graece iuxta
LXX interpretes, quam recognovit et emendavit Robert Hanhart, Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2006.

2.2.3. The critical editions

The Cambridge edition reproduces the text of the Codex Vaticanus, signaling in the
critical apparatus the main variants brought by other witnesses of the text.
Unfortunately it is not complete; it includes only the Pentateuch and the historical
books, except the books of the Maccabees. The work was interrupted in 1940 due to
the world war. The title of the work says so: A. E. BROOKE – N. MCLEAN (eds.), The
Old Testament in Greek: According to the Text of the Codex Vaticanus,
Supplemented from Other Uncial Manuscripts, with a Critical Apparatus Containing
the Variants of the Chief Ancient Authorities for the Text of the Septuagint,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1906-1940.

2.2.3. The critical editions

The Göttingen edition (J. ZIEGLER – J. W. WEVERS – ET AL. (Eds.), Septuaginta: Vetus
Testamentum Graecum auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis editum,
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1974-) uses a large number of manuscripts and
therefore has a very rich critical apparatus. But above all it is so characterized
because it tries to reconstruct the original text of every single book. 11 books are still
lacking to complete this monumental work: Josh, Judg, 1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chr,
Prov, Song and Qoh. The last 3 are also missing from the Cambridge edition, so you
have to look at them in the Rahlfs.