Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Harold, there are two major problems I have with this view. Firstly, it is 
based largely on tradition which is fairly late - a good few centuries after 
the period you've mentioned (300-200 BC). Secondly, it doesn't seem to do 
justice to the text critical issues as evidenced by Qumran.

I would argue on the basis of Qumran that there is a proto-Masoretic text 
which is reaching a fairly stable form by the turn of the era. However, there 
are also a plurality of other text types which make it difficult to talk 
about a fixed text.


Regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au