Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Joseph Crea <Joseph.Crea AT worldnet.att.net>]

Hi everyone!

  I've got a problem that I can't pin down by myself.  In a discussion
about early Israelite religious practices Leviticus 27:27-29 came up as as
an example how "gifts" to YHWH were treated -- and was prompted told (in no
uncertain terms!) that the God of Israel would not condone such behaviour
and that the DSS version of Leviticus 27:28-29 has a variant reading which
goes (second hand material, sorry):

> [Lev. 27:28] Notwithstanding, no devoted
>thing, a man may devote unto HaShem of all that he
>hath, whether of the work of man or of beast, or of
>the field of his possession, shall be sold or
>redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy unto
>HaShem. 

When I pointed out that the Masoretic text doesn't read like this -- it
allows for men, or beast or even land to be dedicated not just their
"work", I was informed that this particular reading was from the "Qumran
material".  I then pointed out that Lev. 27:28-29 doesn't show up in either
__The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible__ or in Harold Scanlin's  listing of biblical
passages in the DSS material in his __The Dead Sea Scrolls & Modern
Translationsand of the Old Testament__, but my says that they aren't
reliable and that such Israeli scholars as Dr. Eliezer Sukenik and Yigal
Yadin are on record as to the existence of this part of Leviticus in the
DSS -- ditto for the Encyclopedia Judaica.  So I'm confused, who's right?
Any help will be much appreciated.


With Mettaa,

Joseph Crea
<Joseph.Creaworldnet.att.net>