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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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  • From: peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Text and inspiration
  • Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 11:48:56 -0400


This prompts a controversial suggestion which I would like to float,
not as my fixed opinion but as an idea I am toying with: The works in
the Hebrew Bible can be considered as having arrived at a stable and
generally accepted canonical form only with the formation of the
proto-Masoretic text type (as already witnessed at Qumran, e.g. in the
Isaiah scroll). Therefore the text form which should be considered
"inspired" (in whatever sense anyone might want to take that) is this
proto-Masoretic text, and the textual basis for Christian (and
presumably Jewish, though I cannot speak for that) teaching and for
general purpose Bible translations should be the proto-Masoretic text.
Therefore (except of course for scholarly research) LXX, Samaritan
Pentateuch and other early variant texts and versions derived from
them should be used only for clarification of MT and not to correct
the text, except where there is good reason to believe that the MT
does not reflect the proto-MT. I would include the Masoretic
vocalisation in this to the extent that it can be considered an
accurate reflection of the vocalisation understood by those who
stabilised the proto-MT.

Comments?

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Hebrew vowel pointings in the MT
Author: atombomb AT sirius.com at internet
Date: 07/04/1999 13:03


Andrew Kulikovsky wrote:

> Only the autographs are inspired.

Andrew: Your other question (not quoted here) about the origin of the
vowel pointings is a good one, but I would quibble with the aforegoing
statement. Only the autographs are inspired, unless the text belonged
to, and in some sense was written by, a community which closed its canon
(and I mean the canon of any single work) at a later stage in the process.

Regards to all.

John Burnett





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