Old Testament
Textual Criticism

A Practical Introduction

Ellis R. Brotzman

Foreword by Bruce K. Waltke

© 1994 by Ellis R. Brotzman

Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brotzman, Ellis R.

Old Testament textual criticism : a practical introduction / Ellis R. Brotzman ; foreword by Bruce K. Waltke.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8010-1065-9

1. Bible. O.T.—Criticism, Textual. I. Title.
BS1136.B765 1994
221.4’4—dc20 93-42726

For Ruth
Like her biblical namesake,
she too is אֵשֶׁת חַיִל
(a capable woman)

Contents

Foreword, by Bruce K. Waltke

List of Figures

List of Tables

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Writing in the Ancient Near East

2. Transmission of the Old Testament in Hebrew

3. Ancient Versions of the Old Testament

4. The Dead Sea Scrolls

5. Introduction to BHS

6. Scribal Errors

7. Principles and Practice of Textual Criticism

8. Textual Commentary on the Book of Ruth

Conclusion

Appendix: An English Key to BHS

Glossary

Select Bibliography

Subject Index

Author Index

Foreword

Bruce K. Waltke

Until recently there was no suitable textbook for the discipline of Old Testament textual criticism. The standard work by Bleddyn J. Roberts, The Old Testament Text and Versions, had become out of date.1 But now two excellent texts have appeared: Emanuel Tov’s Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible and this one by Ellis Brotzman.2

Unfortunately, on the one hand, Brotzman did not have Tov’s work available to him when preparing his manuscript (this deficiency was corrected before going to press). I had prepublication access to Tov’s work and some of its material was mediated to Brotzman through my essay “Old Testament Textual Criticism” in the forthcoming Holman Introduction to the Bible, edited by David S. Dockery, Kenneth A. Mathews, and Robert Sloan (Nashville: Broadman). Fortunately, on the other hand, Tov’s and Brotzman’s books complement each other. Brotzman takes time to present the contribution of the ancient versions, but Tov deliberately slights them. Tov devotes an entire chapter to textual criticism and literary criticism, especially in the light of the five (not three) recensions attested among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but Brotzman in his discussion of the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls does not elaborate on this contribution to our understanding of the development of the Old Testament.

Brotzman makes a unique contribution in his discussion of textual criticism and inspiration. In that connection, Douglas Stuart makes the significant observation: “It is fair ...