Studies in the Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project

722 Pages·2012·38.59 MB·English

by  Dominique Barthélemy

S
t u d ie s in
T
t h e ex t o f t h e
O T
ld e s t a m e n t
An Introduction to the
Hebrew Old Testament Text Project
Dominique Barthélémy
Textual Criticism and the Translator
Volume 3
Studies in the Text of the Old Testament
Textual Criticism and the Translator
Volume 3
Edited by Roger L. Omanson
1. A Handbook on Isaiah, by Jan de Waard
2. A Handbook on Jeremiah, by Jan de Waard
3. Studies in the Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Old
Testament Text Project, by Dominique Barthélémy
4. A Handbook on the Psalms, by Jan de Waard
Published in Association with
The United Bible Societies
Reading, U.K.
by Eisenbrauns,
Winona Lake, Indiana
Studies in the Text of the Old Testament:
An Introduction to the
Hebrew Old Testament Text Project
by
Dominique Barthélémy
English Translation of the Introductions to Volumes I, 2, and 3
CRITIQUE TEXTUELLE DE L ’ANCIEN TESTAMENT
Translators
Stephen Pisano and Peter A. Pettit, Volume 1
Joan E. Cook and Sarah Lind, Volume 2
Sarah Lind, Volume 3
Winona Lake, Indiana
Eisenbrauns
2012
© 2012 by Eisenbrauns.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
www.eisenbrauns.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Puhlication Data
Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament. Introductions. English.
Studies in the Text of the Old Testament : an introduction to the Hebrew Old
Testament text project / by Dominique Barthélémy
p. cm. — (Textual criticism and the translator ; v. 3)
This book contains English-language translations of the introductions by
Dominique Barthélémy to volumes 1-3 of Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien
Testament.
The introduction to v. 1 is translated by Stephen Pisano and Peter Pettit; the
introduction to v. 2 is translated by Joan Cook and Sarah Lind; the introduction to
v. 3 is translated by Sarah Lind.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57506-235-8 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Bible. O.T.—Criticism, Textual. I. Barthélémy, Dominique. II. United Bible
Societies. Committee of the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. III. Title.
BS11S6.C74213 2012
221.4'46—dc23
2012013447
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI
Z39.48-1984.©
Contents
Editor’s Preface.......................................................................................................... xi
Introduction................................................................................................................. xv
Jean-Dominique Barthélémy..................................................... xv
The Hebrew Old Testament Text Project................................ xvii
Biblia Hebraica Quinta................................................................. xix
Eugene Nida and the United Bible Societies.............................. xx
Summaries of CTAT Introductions ................................................xxvi
Abbreviations............................................................................................................xxix
Part One
1. The History of Old Testament Textual Criticism
from Its Origins to J. D. Michaelis.............................................................................. 2
I. Origins of the Criticism of the Hebrew Text.............................. 3
A. Attempts at Emendation within Judaism
during the Early Middle Ages 3
B. Luther 6
C. Sébastien Châteillon 12
II. The Century of the Great Debates ............................................ 13
A. When Were the Vowel Points Established? 13
B. Cappel’s Critica Sacra 19
C. Tempestuous Times 20
III. Analysis of the Questions Surrounding Criticism
of the Hebrew Text in the Middle of the
Seventeenth Century .................................................................. 29
A. A Statement of Fact and a Position of Principle 29
IV. The Search for Hebrew Variants .............................................. 31
A. Charles François Houbigant 31
B. Disregard for Vocalization and Masorah 33
C. Benjamin Kennicott 36
D. Giovanni Bernardo de Rossi 48
E. From the Eighteenth Century to the Present 50
V. Criticism of the Autographs of Moses and the Prophets ... 51
A. Spinoza’s Predecessors 52
B. Spinoza 53
C. Richard Simon 58
v
vi Contents
2. The Hebrew Old Testament Text Committee and the Task of
Hebrew Textual Criticism................................................................................... 82
I. Establishment of a Committee for the Textual Analysis
of the Hebrew Old Testament .................................................. 82
A. Previous Projects 82
B. The United Bible Societies Project 83
II. Preliminary and Interim Statement of Aim, Agenda, and
Criteria for the Committee’s Work, and Its Position
on Conjectural Emendation ...................................................... 84
A. Aim 84
B. Agenda 88
C. Criteria 89
D. Conjectural Emendation (Factor 14) 92
E. Unsatisfactory Results of Textual Criticism
(Factor 15) 97
III. Relationship among Textual Stabilization, Canonization
of Writings, and the Plurality of Text Types......................... 97
A. The Interplay of Textual Stabilization and Limited
Literary Innovation 97
B. How Did the Canonization of the Scriptural Books
Take Place? 118
C. Diversity or Unity of Textual Types 127
IV. Pluralism and a Favored Reference Text............................. 131
A. What Hebrew Textual Form Is to Be Restored? 131
B. The Christian Old Testament 134
V. What Should Be the Aim of Textual Analysis of the
Hebrew Old Testament?........................................................... 137
A. A Point of Reference 137
B. The Practice of Textual Criticism for Diverse
Goals 137
C. Changes in the Committee’s Views on Textual
Criticism 139
D. Three Tasks 141
Part Two
1. Textual Decisions of the Translations Consulted in CTAT.......................... 144
I. The Committee’s Point of Departure...................................... 144
II. The Revised Standard Version (RSV).................................... 146
III. The Bible de Jerusalem (BJ) .................................................. 149
IV. The Revised Luther Bible (R L )............................................. 151
V. The New English Bible (NEB) ............................................... 152
VI. Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible (TOB) ............................ 155
VII. The Critique of Textual Criticism ....................................... 158
Contents vii
2. Origins of the Corrections................................................................................. 160
I. Luther............................................................................................. 161
A. Translator and Reviser 161
B. The Sources for the Translation 162
C. The Sources for the 1540-1541 Revision 168
II. Sources of Influence apart from or after Luther.................. 169
A. Antonio Brucioli 169
B. The French Bible 171
Excursus 175
I. Robert Stephanus, Bible Editor 175
II. The Vatable Bible and the Spanish Inquisition 181
C. The English Bible 207
D. The Bible of the Pastors and Professors of the Geneva
Church 217
III. The Bible in Vernacular Languages in the
Sixteenth Century: An Overview ......................................... 219
A. Before the Reformation 219
B. Luther’s Role 219
C. Role of the Latin Translations 219
D. Robert Stephanus’s Role 221
E. The Bibles and the Authorities 222
F. The Debate over Reading Aids 223
Conclusion........................................................................................ 224
Part Three
The Textual Witnesses: Introduction .................................................................... 228
Preliminary Methodological Discussion .................................... 228
A. Aim of a Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible 229
B. Holy Scriptures and Canonical Scriptures 229
C. The Canonicity of the Hebrew and Greek Bibles 230
D. Which Text of the Hebrew Bible Is Canonical
Scripture? 230
E. Task of a Critical Edition of the Hebrew Text of the
Bible 233
Section One:
The Different Forms of the Hebrew Text
1. The Authority of the Aleppo Codex............................................................... 238
I. The Recent Emergence of Ancient Manuscripts................. 238
A. The St. Petersburg Manuscript (P) 238
B. The Firkovitch Manuscript (F) 239
C. The Aleppo Manuscript (A) 239
D. The Cairo Manuscript (C) 240
E. The New York Manuscript (N) 240
viii Contents
F. British Library ms Or. 4445 (B) 240
G. The Damascus Pentateuch (D) 240
H. Vatican ms ebr. 448 (V) 241
I. Berlin ms Or. qu. 680 and JThS 510 (= Ba) 241
II. The “Ben Asher Text” ............................................................... 242
A. The Influence of Maimonides 242
B. In Search of the “Text of Ben Asher” 243
C. The Aleppo Manuscript and the Model Manuscript
of Maimonides 243
D. Relation between Masorah and Text 244
E. The Great Classical mishafim of the Karaites from the
Tiberian School 245
F. The Fame of “Ben Asher” 251
111. The Predecessors of Aaron Ben A sher................................. 254
2. The Medieval Manuscripts and the Classical Tiberian Text...................... 256
I. The Body of Medieval Manuscripts ....................................... 257
A. Attempts to Use the Great Collations of the
Eighteenth Century Critically 257
B. Attempts at Quantitative Analysis 258
C. Reasons for the Failure 263
D. Preliminary Questions 269
II. Did a “Masoretic Text” Ever Exist? ...................................... 272
III. Traditions Other Than the Classical Tiberian Tradition . . 273
A. The Other Medieval Hebrew Traditions 273
B. Did Medieval Masoretic Manuscripts Preserve
Variants? 276
IV. The Central Kernel.................................................................... 302
A. Aaron ben Asher’s Work 302
B. Shelomoh ben Buyaca’s Work 313
C. The Internal Complexity of the Witnesses
to the Classical Tiberian Text 331
V. Toward the Proper Use of the Masorahs............................... 331
A. Different Types of Masorahs 332
B. An Unutilized Source: The Zikronot
Concordance 339
C. The Kinship of the Masorahs 346
D. Conclusions 381
3. Proto-, Pré-, and Extra-Masoretic....................................................................383
I. The Emergence of the Proto-Masoretic Text......................... 383
A. Consonantal Stabilization 383
II. Pre- or Extra-Masoretic?........................................................... 389
A. Comparison of IQIsaband IQIsaa 389
B. Comparison of lQIsab with Mur 404
Contents ix
C. Evaluation of the Two Comparisons 405
D. Other Comparisons 406
Section Two:
The Contribution of the Versions
1. The Ancient Greek Text.....................................................................................412
I. The Divisions in <9 ...................................................................... 412
A. Cases Treated in CTAT Vol. 3 412
B. Other Cases Found in the Greek Witnesses 413
II. How Ziegler’s Text Could Be Improved................................ 423
A. Witnesses to 03 of Ezekiel That Are New or Unutilized
by Ziegler 424
B. Little-Known or Poorly Understood Witnesses of the
Dodekapropheton 441
Excursus: A Common Archetype for ill, ©,
and lQpHab? 449
A. Characteristic Spellings of the 3ms Suffix 449
B. Textual Relationship between the Archetype and I,
lQpHab, and ill 452
C. Conclusions concerning the Relationship between the
Archetype
and the Textual States <S, lQpHab, and ill 464
2. Versions Subsequent to Standardization.........................................................468
I. The Hexaplaric Versions........................................................... 469
A. Means of Access to the Hexaplaric Versions 469
B. Problems Associated with Each of the Sources 477
C. The Aims of the Scholiasts 493
D. The Identification of the Hexaplaric Versions or
Recensions 496
II. The Vulgate................................................................................. 497
A. The editio princeps 497
B. The Critical Editions 513
C. Jerome as Commentator on 0 531
D. Relationship between Ό and σ' 533
III. The Syriac Peshitta ................................................................. 534
A. The Direct Tradition 534
B. The Indirect Tradition 536
C. Relationship to <S 537
IV. The Targum................................................................................. 540
A. The Sperber Edition 540
B. Yemenite and Tiberian Targums 541
V. The Arabic Versions ................................................................. 542
A. The Arabic in the Polyglot 542
B. The Translation of Pethion ibn Ayyub al-Sahhar 544