Septuagent, DSS, and Torah
by Alyza
The Septuagent translation of the Torah was done between 285 and 244 B.C.E., as my quote from the Encylopaedia Judaica below attests to. Further more, the other books of the Tanach were translated during the following 2 centuries, i.e. between 244 and 44 B.C.E.
"Septuagint, the oldest Greek translation of the Bible...the legend contained in the apocryphal letter of Aristeas, according to which 72 elders of Israel, six from each tribe, translated the LAW [Torah] into Greek in Alexandria, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-244 B.C.E.)...The designation Septuagent was EXTENDED to the rest of the Bible and non-canonical books that were translated to Greek during the following two centuries" (Encylopaedia Judaica, Volume 14, p1178).
The Biblical manuscripts found in the Qumran, are distributed as follows: 60% Proto-Masoretic texts, 20% Qumran style manuscripts, 10% Nonaligned texts, 5% Proto-Samaritan texts, and 5% Septuagintal type texts. Further more, the Qumran style manuscripts have their bases in the proto-Masoretic texts. The Masoretic type texts were dominant in the time of the Hasmonean period (about 160 B.C.E.). (p172 of Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls by Shiffman)
Furthermore, most of the text that vary from the Masoretic (4 LXX manuscript fragments, for example, dating to the 1st and second century B.C.E.), come from cave 4. This is the cave where the texts were not preserved carefully in jars. It is conjectured, that cave 4 was a geniza for the depositing of texts that were damaged or had textual errors.
Some say, 'Cave 4 is close to to Qumran, and had shelves, so it must have been where they kept the books they were currently using.' I disagree. The geniza of Cairo shows that flawed texts, text no longer usuable or never usable, that contianed the Name of G-d were stored nearby. Mamy synagogues today have genizas in the synagogue itself. It would have been more likely for the people of Qumran to have stored the books they used daily or weekly directly in their settlement, in a building where it could be easily used. These cave 4 scrolls, were, in my opinion, part of a genizia of texts that were in error or unaceptable in other ways, yet could not be merely thrown out, as they contained the Name of G-d or were part of faulty Scriptural texts.
Additionally, another quote from the Encyclopaeadia Judaica supports this. "In talmudic and midrashic literature, however, it is [geniza] used as a nomen actionis (Shab. 16:1; Lev. R. 21:12; Meg. 26b), as a place for the putting away of all kinds of sacred articles, such as sacred books no longer usable, as well as the books of Sadducees and heretics, and other writings of which the sages disapproved but which were not required to be burned" ("Genizah", Encyclopaeadia Judaica)
Cave 7 contained a collection of only Greek texts, including 2 LXX fragments on paprus. (Shiffman, p 212).
Clearly, by the time of the Hasmoneans (who were before Jesus in history) at least, the Masoretic texts were the majority texts. Jesus himself followed the same division of the Tanach into Torah, Prophets, and Psalms (ie writtings), as it says in Luke 24:44.
The texts are sacred to us, so the task of copying them is considered of utmost importance. A number of safe guards are taken to preserve the accuracy by the scribe himself. The congregation who gets the scroll is another check in the accuracy of the scroll. They always have someone checking the Hebrew as the scroll is read, comparing it to a scroll that is known to be Kosher (i.e., without errors). Based on the Biblical scrolls found in Qumran, the Jewish scribes have done a remarkably accurate job of passing the text down for the last 2200 years.
In the approximately 2000 years since the writting of the Dead Sea Scroll Isaiahs, it is interesting to note that the only difference between those and the Masoretic text are minor spelling errors in the DSS Isaiah versions. It is also important to note that in communities as far apart as Syria or Yemin and England, isolated from each other, the Torah is the same. This is amazing given the distance between them before the age of mass communication and given the isolation of the 2 communites from each other. They were not comparing notes, but copying the Torah from previous ones in their possession. This attests to the accurate transmission of the Torah and Tanach following the scribal methods.
In contrast, early in Church history, a Church Father set out to make a standard version of the LXX, due to the fact that there were so many versions out there.
Origen became alarmed at the state of the Greek text of the Bible: the latter not only differed considerably from the Hebrew text of the Jews, which he believed to be the original one, but it appeared in a wide range of forms in the manuscripts current among the Christians. His purpose in producing his enormous work known as the Hexapla ("the sixfold," completed in 245 C.E.) was to reconstitute and standardize the "genuine" text of the Septuagint, essential both to sound exegesis and effective apologetics.
it [the Hexapla] did not become preeminent throughout the Christian world, since, at the end of the fourth century, Jerome referred to the existence of two other recensions, one Egyptian by Hesychius, and the other made in Asia Minor by Lucian. The existence of these three versions might in itself afford a sufficient explanation of the many discrepancies displayed by the Septuagint manuscripts.
(Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Bible: Translations")
Considering the painstakeing accuracy with which the Tanach is copied, I would rather rely on the Hebrew original than a translation, no matter how good it might be. You see, the language of the translation limits its accuracy. Greek is very different from Hebrew, and the translation was designed to meet the needs of a Greek-speaking audience. The language you use colors the meaning, and the LXX is thus colored by the Greek language. Something that might be of interest to you. Origen, one of the Church father's, believed that the Hebrew text of the Jews was the original text. (Encylopaedia Judaica, "Bible", p853). Many modern translations, such as the NRSV, make use of the Hebrew Masoretic text.
See also the entire Aish HaTorah series begining with "Is Torah True?" Don't forget to click on all the other links on the left, ranging from "Integrity of Text" to "Maimonides' Explaination"
http://www.geocities.com/~alyza/Jewish/lxx-dss.htm
My Jewish Oriented Posts and Papers
http://www.geocities.com/~alyza/Jewish/posts.html