SECOND EDITION

Old Testament

Textual Criticism

A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION

Ellis R. Brotzman and Eric J. Tully

BakerAcademic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 1994, 2016 by Ellis R. Brotzman and Eric J. Tully

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 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—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Brotzman, Ellis R., author.

Title: Old Testament textual criticism : a practical introduction / Ellis R. Brotzman and Eric J. Tully.

Description: Second Edition | Grand Rapids : Baker Academic, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016006234 | ISBN 9780801097539 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Old Testament—Criticism, Textual.

Classification: LCC BS1136 .B765 2016 | DDC 221.4/46—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016006234

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are the authors’ translations.

For Ruth

Like her biblical namesake,

she too is אֵשֶׁת חַיִל (a capable woman)

—ERB

For my parents, Don and Connie,

who modeled a love for the Bible

and taught me to take seriously every word

—EJT

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Writing in the Ancient Near East

2. A Brief Overview of the Transmission of the Old Testament Text

3. Hebrew Texts of the Old Testament

4. Ancient Translations of the Old Testament

5. Critical Editions of the Old Testament Text

6. Scribal Changes in the Old Testament Text

7. Principles and Practice of Textual Criticism

8. Textual Commentary on the Book of Ruth

Conclusion

Appendix A: An English Key to BHS

Appendix B: What Text(s) Are We Attempting to Reconstruct?

Glossary

Bibliography

Subject Index

Author Index

Scripture Index

ILLUSTRATIONS

Tables

1.1. Ancient Writing Systems

1.2. Cuneiform and Alphabetic Signs

1.3. History of Writing

2.1. Hebrew Letters That Are Often Confused

2.2. Transmission of the Old Testament Text

3.1. Biblical Texts from Qumran

3.2. Important Masoretic Manuscripts

4.1. Significant Aramaic Targums

5.1. Selected Sigla Found in BHS and BHQ

6.1. Possible Confusion of Archaic Letters

B.1. Comparison of Masoretic Text and G-Jeremiah

Figures

1.1. West Semitic Scripts

2.1. Hebrew and Greek Textual Development

3.1. Map of Qumran Caves 1–11

3.2. The Development of the Samaritan Pentateuch

3.3. Critical Editions of the Hebrew Old Testament

4.1. Character of the Greek Versions

4.2. Textual History of the Greek Versions

4.3. The Witnesses to the Old Testament Text

4.4. Translations and Their Hebrew Source Texts

4.5. The Circular Nature of Translation Analysis

4.6. A Recursion Model for Translation Analysis...