Textual criticism has often been called both an art and a science. It is science because it deals with data, genetic relationships between manuscripts, a knowledge of scribal practice, and so forth. It is also art because it requires discernment and evaluation. Tov writes, “to a large extent, textual evaluation cannot be bound by any fixed rules. It is an art in the full sense of the word, a faculty that can be developed, guided by intuition based on wide experience.