Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT sil.org]

I thought Oesterley's point in the quotation given was that the 
Massoretes were themselves Karaites, as I have heard elsewhere. Is 
this in fact not true, then? Does anyone really know?

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: The MT and Intro to Eng LXX Psalter
Author:  <sh AT teol.ku.dk> at Internet
Date:    06/10/1999 02:37


I thought the point of the introduction quoted was not that the Kara'ites 
corrupted consonantal or vowel text, but that Massoretic pointing only came 
into being (or at least was fixed) as result of theological consolidation 
taking place in opposition to the Kara'ite heresy (as it would be to the 
Massoretes). The Massoretic CONSONANTAL text we know to go back to antiquity 
(because of Qumran finds).
   Implication of this for scholarly purposes would NOT necessarily be
superiority of the LXX, but rather that when in doubt you should regard the 
CONSONANTAL Hebrew text as THE text and the vowels as a later commentary, 
which you might consider disregarding if this makes the text more easily 
intelligible.
   This is certainly a thesis we should consider regardless of the age and
quality of Oesterley's work.
   I utterly agree with Peter Kirk that scholars are too swift to label a
passage "corrupt" because of their own lack of what we might call "reader 
sensitivity".

Soren Holst
Copenhagen
<snip>
> ----------- begin quote-------
>
>    What is equally important is the fact that the present day Hebrew 
> version (also know as the Massoretic text) is itself the result of a
> doctrinal upheaval which shook Judaism early in the ninth century A.D. 
> During this time, a sharp controversy broke out between the Rabbinical 
> scholars and the Karaite sect (the Hebrew from of the name is ~Beni
> Miqra~, "Sons of Reading," i.e., of the Scriptures).  As W. O. E. 
> Oesterey notes in his work ~The Psalms:~
>
>    The Karaites undertook a most minute and critical study of the 
>    Biblical text; and in order to oppose and refute the Karaite
>    teaching, the Rabbis had to undertake a similar task.  This dual 
>    critical study developed into a very keen contest between the
>    Rabbinical and Karaite champions; and there is no doubt that 
>    the bulk of the work . . . must be assigned to the heretical 
>    Karaites.
>                        (ibid. p. 114) 
>
>    As a result, in his critical edition of the Hebrew Psalter,
> Oesterley time and time again comes to the conclusion that, in a
> countless number of verses, the Massoretic text is, as he puts it,
> "hopelessly corrupt," and the Septuagint is repeatedly called upon in 
> the author's effort to shed some light on what the original hebrew
> rendering may once have been.
>
> ---------end quote---------
<snip>