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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Exo 12:40 430 years

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  • From: James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>
  • To: steve AT voiceInWilderness.info, Steve Miller <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>
  • Cc: 'B-Hebrew' <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Exo 12:40 430 years
  • Date: Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:59:52 +0100

Hi,

as I said, it's a bit meaningless to discuss the 'LXX' since there are no extant copies of it. What we can discuss are manuscripts such as the codex vaticanus and the codex sinaiticus. What we basically have is Christian owned and curated copies greek manuscripts that may have had their origin with a variant of the original LXX.

As you have rightly noted this is as a translation. This does not automatically make it inferior as the question arises 'a translation of what?'. Comparison of the MT related MSS, LXX related manuscripts, DSS and Samaritan Pentateuch clearly show a forking in the tradition. Extant greek MSS versions of the Torah seem to show more agreement with the DSS and the Samaritan Pentateuch than with the MT variant MSS. This would seem to indicate that the tradition the Greek MSS were translated from were older than the Christian era significantly. So, the logical question that arises is which tradition best reflects the original.

James Christian

Quoting Steve Miller <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>:

From: James Read

Hi Steve,

you state that MT is generally better than LXX. What do you base this
on? I've been looking into this a lot recently. We don't even know
what the LXX originally looked like and so, personally, I find it more
useful to discuss specific texts like the codex vaticanus and the
codex sinaiticus. The MT frequently mistakes gender (confuses he with
she). How confidence building is that?

James Christian

[Steve Miller] James,
I thought it was generally accepted that the MT is much more accurate than
the LXX. One strong reason is that the LXX is a translation. Nevertheless
there are many places where the LXX reading is correct and the MT has an
error.
-Steve Miller
Detroit






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