Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Tuesday 15 June 2004 03:04, Philip Engmann wrote:
> A table in J. VanderKam & P. Flint, "The Meaning of the DSS" (p. 143),
> summarizing the research of Tov, gives these figures:
>
> 47% of biblical DSS texts reflect the MT.
> 47% are "non-aligned".
> 3, 3 % reflect the LXX.
> 2, 5 % reflect the Samaritan Pentateuch.

Just a quick note: my own research indicates that these numbers are about 
right, though I would quibble with the percentage of "non-aligned" because 
Tov has a somewhat different definition of this term than I do (he includes 
variant spellings peculiar to the DSS, for example, while I'm not so sure 
that simple spelling differences indicate a textual difference).  However, 
the LXX percentage needs to be qualified, because the vast majority of LXX 
readings appear in the books of Samuel, where we already knew the MT was 
problematic and the LXX often had a better text.  If we exclude Samuel from 
the equation, the LXX percentage drops to near zero; the examples Philip 
already cited cover most of that percentage.

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Learning about Christianity from a non-Christian
is like getting a kiss over the telephone.