Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George F. Somsel" <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

In my recollection of the "Letter of Aristeas" the scholars were said to
have brought one set of scrolls which were written in golden letters.  To
think that each of 72 scholars would bring a set of scrolls is virtually
inconcievable totally aside from whether each would be written in gold
lettering.  Would there have been many sets left in Judea in such a case?
 Fortunately, we need not argue the point since it has been nearly
universally agreed that the letter is pseudepigraphic and therefore not
reflective of any historical event.

gfsomsel
__________

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 3:51:55 +0000 <david.kimbrough AT charter.net> writes:
> Phillip,
> 
> According to tradtion, the LXX (the first Greek translation 
> of the OT but not the last) was translated by 70 scholars, 
> each of whom brought their own set of scrolls.  Without 
> taking that number too literally, the point is that these 
> scholars brought together many different scrolls so they 
> could compare them because there were many different 
> versions of the OT in circulation.  So by the 2nd Century 
> BC there was no single OT text.  The differences between 
> the MT, DSS, LXX, and other Greek translations attest to 
> this.
> 
> Most people assume that a some earlier point in history 
> there was a single unified OT. So I guess my point is that 
> you have to decide which original OT you want to recreate.
> 
> 
> 
> > From: "Philip Engmann" <phil-eng AT ighmail.com>
> > Date: 2004/06/24 Thu AM 12:34:04 GMT
> > To: "'Reinier de Blois'" <r.de.blois AT solcon.nl>,  <b-
> hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Subject: [b-hebrew] Original OT Text?
> > 
> > "Earlier translations, such as RSV, NEB, and TEV are 
> based on a text
> > that
> > has been emended in many places. This was done with the 
> purpose of
> > reconstructing the "original" text and to get rid of 
> "obvious textual
> > errors". These days many scholars are of the opinion that 
> that is a goal
> > that is extremely difficult and to attain and somewhat 
> unrealistic. You
> > don't get there by comparing the MT and the LXX."
> > > 
> > > 
> > Hmmm. I have just spent the last 3+ years of my life 
> doing exactly that.
> > I have been working on my MPhil Thesis entitled:
> >  
> > AN EXAMINATION OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SELECTED TEXTS 
> OF THE OLD
> > GREEK TEXT AND THE MASORETIC TEXT.
> >  
> > This is in an attempt to reconstruct selected original 
> texts by
> > comparing the Old Greek Text to the Masoretic Text.
> >  
> > I am therefore extremely interested in this viewpoint, 
> and particularly
> > interested to know any alternative means to arrive at 
> this original
> > text. (Of course this original text concept is a bit 
> unrealistic and
> > difficult to obtain, but at least to obtain a text that 
> is as close as
> > possible to this ideal original text).
> >  
> > Thanks,
> >  
> > Philip Engmann
> >  
> >  
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> 
> David Kimbrough
> San Gabriel
> 
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