Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

David:

On Fri, Dec 24, 2010 at 6:58 AM, David P Donnelly 
<davedonnelly1 AT juno.com>wrote:

> K Randolph kwrandolph at gmail.com
> Fri Dec 24 08:06:48 EST 2010  wrote:
>
> "The Leningrad Codex is merely a preservation of a document that
> was written mostly during that period, with additional marks to aid the
> non-scholar in its reading."
>
> _______________________________________________________________
>
> Isn't the text of the Leningrad Codex believed to be an
> accurate representation of the pronunciation of  a much earlier  "Unpointed
> Hebrew Text" as it was preserved in  a Jewish Oral Tradition?
>

Some believe it is so, but there is no evidence that the vowel points
preserve anything other than the local dialectal pronunciation of Hebrew at
that time.

>
> Or did an earlier version of a Masoretic Text accomplish the
> preservation of the pronunciation of the "Unpointed Hebrew Text"?
>

Nope.

>
> It was my impression that every variant of YHWH found in Codex L. that
> is now rendered as "Adonai", and that every variant of YHWH found in
> Codex L. that is now rendered as "Elohim",  was pointed as it is today,
> because of  information found in a preserved oral tradition of  how the
> Jewish people pronounced  the "Unpointed Hebrew Text  of their day.
>

“Of their day”, namely the tradition of the Masoretic period. But what about
1000 years earlier? 2000 years?

>
> Don't the consonants that occur in the Leningrad Codex almost
> match perfectly with those consonants found in the dead sea scrolls?
>

Yes, almost perfectly. But because the vowels were not preserved, we don’t
know the pronunciation of the DSS.

>
>
> Dave Donnelly
>
> Karl W. Randolph.