Errors in the Masoretes’ “Original” Hebrew Manuscripts of the Bible?
Why critical editions of the Bible—like Biblia Hebraica Quinta—are essential
A MASTERPIECE OF THE MASORETES. The Masoretes established an astoundingly accurate tradition of Bible transmission. This carpet page from the Leningrad Codex (1008 C.E.)—of the tradition of the Masoretes—is the base text for Biblia Hebraica Quinta. The scribe of the manuscript Samuel son of Jacob, one of the Masoretes, even records his name. Photo by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman, West Semitic Research/With the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center/Courtesy Russian National Library.
The Hebrew Bible—or Old Testament—that we have today differs from the Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible penned in the first millennium B.C.E. . When transmitting any sort of a document from generation to generation, small alterations—some intentional, others not—are made. Even the most careful scribe makes errors, which are perpetuated and often compounded by future scribes. Thus, it should not surprise us that the Hebrew Bible, which has a transmission history of several millennia, contains textual difficulties, corruptions and even mistakes. Critical editions of the Bible examine these differences by looking at varying Hebrew witnesses and try to accurately reconstruct the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible. In the November/December 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, David Marcus and James A. Sanders discuss why critical editions of the Bible are necessary and describe the work that goes into creating such an edition in the article “What’s Critical About a Critical Edition of the Bible?”
Marcus and Sanders are both involved with the publication of Biblia Hebraica Quinta, the latest revision of Biblia Hebraica, which refers to the series of critical Bible editions published in Germany since 1905. The base for Biblia Hebraica Quinta is the Leningrad Codex, which dates to 1008 C.E. and was written by Samuel son of Jacob, who was part of a group of rabbinic scribes called the Masoretes.
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THE MASORETES DOING WHAT THE MASORETES DO BEST. This page comes from the Aleppo Codex. Until a third of it was burned in a 1947 anti-Jewish uprising in Syria, the Aleppo Codex was considered to be the oldest, most complete, and most accurate of the Masoretes’ manuscripts. The Masoretes filled its margins with notes to safeguard against corruption. Credit: David Harris/Ben-Zvi Institute in the Shrine of the Book.
Working in Tiberias during the Middle Ages, the Masoretes recognized the possibility of human error when copying the Hebrew Bible. They tried to combat it by adding supplements to the text. In the margins of the Masoretes’ manuscripts, there are innumerable notes—masorah—to safeguard the text. The precision with which the Masoretes were able to preserve the Hebrew text beginning in the seventh century C.E. is astounding. Nevertheless, the Masoretes were not working with the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible. Corruptions had already crept into the versions they copied.
The Masoretes’ efforts preserved the Biblical text in the first millennium C.E. Modern scholarship, with critical editions of the Bible like Biblia Hebraica Quinta, is bringing us even closer to reconstructing the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible.
Subscribers: Read the full article “What’s Critical About a Critical Edition of the Bible?” by David Marcus and James A. Sanders as it appears in the November/December 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on October 25, 2013.
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How would figuring out Jehovah is the name of God in the Bible be a Gnostic idea? Gnosticism is a fusion of occult ideologies from various cultures across time. After doing a little research, anyone can conclude it’s all rooted in the early Babylonian worship of Nimrod and Semiramis – ancient opposers of the true God. Now, while it’s true Gnostics like to revamp and throw their own spin on Bible accounts, such as Noah’s flood, that has nothing to do with God making his name known. If anything, the attempt to conceal the name of Jehovah, replacing it with titles, or reducing it to the tetragrammaton, is something Gnostic believers would do. In the Bible, Jehovah is the creator of the universe and everything in it. Surely, a being of that level of power can easily have his name restored and make it known to all people, regardless of any human efforts to mar, remove, or conceal it.
The truth is Christian believers the world over have called our Lord by the name Jesus for almost 2000 years. He hears us when we call Him by that Name. He listens to us when we call Him by that Name. He answers our prayers when we call Him by that Name. The Christian masses over the centuries have not studied the Codex or probably ever heard of the Allepo Codex or even half of what has been said in these discussions. Still, they are saved by Him and follow Him. It does not take a scholar to receive the gift of salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor do we have to know some ancient name that only a select few may be privy to. All we need do is believe Who He is and Why He came to earth.
I second what Dr. Howard stated: “I think God is powerful enough to ultimately guard His word so that the correct Mss. will reflect His plan and will.” I also second Phil who asked: “Do you really think that a progressive God interested in the future outworking of His purposes is concerned over ” dead” languages or human scholars who insist that everyone MUST be able to speak these ancient tongues to understand the Bible?
Perhaps we do need these critical editions to ensure the accuracy of our Holy text. But, we also need to be careful with all this rummaging about that more inaccuracy is not creeping in. The fact is the King James Version of the Holy Bible remains at the top of the list for being accurate and reliable. It has been proven and tested over time. After the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the ancient text of Isaiah and part of the Psalms was compared to the KJV text and only minor differences were found, differences that didn’t really alter the meaning of the passages. In contrast, it has been found that the newest version of the NIV has over 60,000 errors in it and quite a few of these errors do alter the meaning.
Studying the Holy Bible, it is apparent that our Lord did not expect us to continue using His old name from ancient texts. Instead, He gave us a new name by which to call upon Him. In Revelation we read:
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” (Rev 2:17)
If we know our ancient text, we know that “stone” is representative of our Lord Jesus Christ. (See the prophetic stone regarding Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Dan 2:34-35) and “the chief cornerstone” (Isa 28:16). See also Gen 49:24; Psa 118:22; Mat 21:42; Mar 12:10; Luk 20:17; Act 4:11; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:6-7).
Then, we read further on in Revelation:
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (Rev 3:12)
Here in both these passages of Revelation we are told that God will be given a “new name” for Christians – for believers to know him by. What do you think that name is? Don’t you think the Scriptures give us enough hints so that we can figure all this out for ourselves? Let’s look at Mark:
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues…” (Mark 16:17)
In what name have we been casting out devils and speaking in new tongues for 2000 years? It is in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. (Please note I do not believe that Mark is referring to unknown tongues here in this passage. I believe he is simply talking about the different peoples of the world that will be evangelized, for this is the same chapter that the Lord gives us the Great Commission: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Verse 15).
Come on, people. When we hold the Bible, we hold in the palms of our hands all that we need “to study and to find ourselves approved” when we study a good authorized translation. God’s Word is right there in front of us, powerful and Spirit-filled. It is not necessary to revert to ancient foreign languages that we really don’t understand. It is okay for it to be a part of our study, and it doesn’t hurt to have the Strong Concordance, but we can get what we need from just the study of the Word in English. The Lord will provide.
For the gentleman who says our Lord Jesus wasn’t called “God” in the New Testament, read Jude:
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called… Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jud 1, 24-25)
Keep in mind, too, that Jesus referred to Himself as God when He said: “Before Abraham was, I am (Joh 8:28). Also see Joh 8:23; 10:11; 10:36.
Open up your Bible and read it. Study it. If we seek Him, He will find us. Jesus is His name. You can also call Him Jehovah. Yahweh. Elohim. The Word. King. Immanuel. He is known by many names and many titles. In Isaiah, written 740 years before Jesus was born, we read:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.” (Isa 9:6-8)
Who was this child who Isaiah also called “the mighty God, The everlasting Father”? He was God in the flesh come to earth to save us. There is only one name which He used when He came to earth and that name was “Jesus.” He was Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and His disciples also called Him “Lord,” so we can, too. The angel Gabriel directed Mary to call Him “Jesus” when He was borne (See Luk 1:27-35). Some say it was “Joshua,” but Jesus is the Name in my Bible, and Jesus is the Name that caught on, and Jesus is the Name that 3 billion followers have called Him for over 2000 years. Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth has many different names, but those of us privileged enough to sit at His feet call Him “Jesus,” and we know Who He is. He is Lord God Almighty and Creator of the Universe.
The removal of the names of God and the transliteration of others means that we lose a lot of meaning…. and you shall call his name Jesus because he will save his people….. when you understand that the bible tells us that Yehovah will save (as in Joel) and that Jesus is Yehoshua (Yehovah will save) then suddenly the bible phrase makes sense.
Also look at ‘the LORD said to my lord’….. (YHVH said to adonai)
Too much bad theology and understanding has arisen – it is slowly being corrected by people who make an effort to understand the original languages and cultures of the time.
There was no letter J in the English language before the 17th Century. Hence your argument about the name of the saviour is invalid.
The letter “J” was developed out of the letter “I” to differentiate the different sound usage. An example is “Judea” which was originally as “Iudea”. How to pronounce the latter correctly; is it “Gew-dee-ah” or Eye-you-dee-ah?
Check out 2 kings 15: to see why all extant codexes & bibles are mistranslations.
Petah ,son of Remaliah was killed twice by Hoshea ,& still managed to rule 20 years over Israel after Hoshea killed him after he had killed Pekahiah!!!!!???????.
Including the most important ‘book’ in the World —- Claims made for The a Codex Aleppo & The Codex Vaticanus etc etc .
NONE of the ‘bibles’ or ‘codexes’ are ORIGINALS,but copies of copies or by UNAUTHORISED translators ,such as The Alexandrian Jewish Community members,Emperor Constantine ,The Samaritans etc etc.
To clarify my story of PEKAH & HOSHEA ,’as Kings over Israel’ ,& the erroneous versions of the story in all Codexes & ‘bibles’,that I have been able to access…
Their total of 29 years ‘rule over Israel was actually in GILEAD as attention to detail proves!.
During PEKAH’s rule the Assyrian King Tiglath Pileser 3 deported many Israelites to Assyria & Media….His rule was 745 to. 727 BC.
HOSHEA was the last King of Israel ,& his ‘rule’ was from729/8 to 720BC,albeit as A prisoner in GILEAD ,from 722 to 720 BC.,courtesy of his Assyrian Overlord ,Shalmaneser V,who then went up through the land & besieged Samaria 3 years & they took it & sent 30,000 survivors as POWs to captivity in Assyria & Media.
THEY =ShalmaneserV & His brother/successor, Sharrukin/ Sargon2,
There was NO King in Samaria 722 to 720 BC ,as HOSHEA had killed PEKAH ,immediately after PEKAH killed PEKAHIAH ,King of Samaria ,in order to ” Rule in his Room”…IN 722BC
HOSHEA had previously conspired with Tiglath Pileser 3 to oust PEKAH from GILEAD so as he could replace him,& with PEKAH as King in Samaria,HOSHEA obviously felt threatened & took immediate action …PEKAH’s Reign in Samaria was so short that no Rule was recorded.The 20 years of 2Kings 15:30 refers to his ‘Rule’ in GILEAD….
Only oblique references are made & very little to GILEAD .,while their ‘rule over Israe ‘ was referred to as being in Samaria …
The FACTS are ,That HOSHEA Never ruled in Samaria,& PEKAH ‘began to rule’ = NIL / ZERO .,
In Samaria.
Whether the errors were intentional or simply made by copyists who had no clue to the reality is immaterial ,as with this knowledge the solving of the Chronology of the Kings of Israel & Judah is possible …..The Kingdom of Israel if called EPHRAIM & it is realised that there were TWO THRONES in ISRAEL. //. EPHRAIM from 749 BC ,for whatever reason…?.,As an adjunct to Samaria in PEKAH’s case & as an Assyrian Tributary in HOSHEA’s? .,Then the Cross References make perfect sense .
W F Albright & E R Thiele apparently tried to solve the problem by using Pagan ‘calendars’ & an erroneous grasp of ‘conventional history’.Simple Arithmetic was not one of their strong points.
On the 11th of September 2001 AKA “9/11″‘a “KARAITE JEW” ,named Nehemiah Gordon claimed to have discovered the NAME of THE GOD of ISRAEL to be ” YEHOVAH” ELOHIM,or “YEHOVAH” GOD ,,as revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:15. .
Nehemiah was Proof Reading a New Bible Project of Hebrew University ,Jerusalem ,against the Highly revered ALEPPO CODEX using High Definition photographs of that Codex ,when he discovered a Masoretic Vowel Pointer ,indicating that the missing letter in the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton Y H V H wa the letter O,which meant that it was “YEHOVAH”. A phone call advised him that The Twin Towers had been ” HIT” .Returning to his search for more proof he found the same Vowel Pointer in another place ,verifying that it was not a fluke or error.Another phone call advised him of a second Hit on the Twin Towers..COINCIDENCES??????.
Those vowel pointers etc are referred to as ” JOTS & TITTLES” by Nehemiah .
Thus, NOT one Jot or Tittle shall be lost????,would seem to suggest that the Vowel Pointing etc was in use prior to YEHOSHUA’s time ?????.
In Genesis 1: …..It was ELOHIM who was The CREATOR ,& that was who GOD was known as by “The FATHERS”…..It was only to Moses that THE NAME of The ELOHIM / GOD was revealed as being “YEHOVAH”.
ELOHIM was a plural/ dual term of ELOH ,as in John1: ..Which clearly shows that TWO ELOH formed The ELOHIM.
Only ONE of those TWO. ELOH was identified further by the term ” THE WORD”,who was the Executive partner of The CREATOR. / ELOHIM.
In 2000. — 2001 Anno Mundi a RECONSTRUCT occurred ,,The Unidentified ELOH of John1: Became. EL /GOD The FATHER & ELOH THE WORD Voluntarily emptied of his immortality & miraculous powers was reduced to be implanted in the womb of the Jewish Maiden ,Mary Bint ELI ,in order to be “Born of a Woman” as YEHOSHUA of Nazareth as he became known .
YEHOSHUA / Y’Shua ended up being transliterated as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ & the whole story falsified ,due to mistranslations ,omissions, mispunctuations,spurious additions & misinterpretations since Apostolic Times
Jesus was never called God only Lord?
Check your Bible again folks. Thomas called Him “My Lord and my God!”
Correction …In the previous ,it should be 4000AM or 1AD,when the reconstruct of “YEHOVAH ELOHIM” occurred…
The unidentified “ELOH” of John 1: Became ” EL THE FATHER” ,while ” ELOH THE WORD”,Became YEHOSHUA /Y’Shua of Nazareth,& in 4030 AM / 30AD ,”YEHOSHUA Ha MESHIACH”,& on Wednesday 14thNisan 4034AM / 34AD was speared to death as he hung crucified ,aged 331/2 years .( Matthew 27:49) As per The Codex VATICANUS…..” But another seizing a lance speared Y’Shua in the side & water & blood came out” ….( The Water) Was Pericardial Fluid ,of which there was an inordinate amount ,due to the trauma of the Roman scourging & hanging crucified for 6 hours ,nailed to a Tree …The distended sac was sliced open by the lance /spear ,narrowly missing the heart,but piercing the aorta & thus death by exsanguination was assured….The intact heart would have continued to pump while ever blood contacted its chambers,totally evacuating the blood supply….The nail wounds in the extremities would have drained them.
Those names were the ALTER EGOS of the TWO ELOH of John 1:……..Who were The “ELOHIM” , The ENTITY / DEITY / GOD ,referred to as THE CREATOR.
Ergo,The Morning Stars / Cherubim & The Sons of God / Seraphim were creations of YEHOVAH ELOHIM ,as was Mankind….
Whereas ,YEHOSHUA / Y’Shua ,was The Only Begotten Son Of EL THE FATHER……The ALTER EGOS of YEHOVAH ELOHIM.
As of 4000AM /Anno Mundi.
Ergo,………The One God ,was a misnomer or misinterpretation,by Deceivers or ignoramuses,due to the continual mistranslation of the Hebrew word “ELOHIM”.
John 1: In the beginning ,was from eternity!!!!!!.
Genesis 1: …Was about 14 Billion years BC,when the physical Universe was created & about 4 Billion years BC when Earth was created…by ELOHIM ….YEHOVAH /YAHOWEH ELOHIM.,depending on which version of the “Hebrew” language you support.
Genesis chapter 46:21 is old wrong in the Masoretic bible. It makes the grand children the children. Bela had children but it’s not mentioned
Yahuah or yawah. Or whatever is derived from the TETRAGRAMMATON YHVH YHWH is not the name of the most high. If you actually looked up what that name means you would know it’s an imposter injected by imposters. Your bibles torahs and so on are corrupted. Jesus (יהושוע) speaks of this. Also speaks of fake jews. He offered the jews a spiritual kingdom and they wanted a worldy kingdom like still today. They rejected him. Jesus wasn’t Jewish.
Yeshua was born a Jew! Is a Jew! But, please cite an authorative source for “Jesus wasn’t Jewish.”
Deborah, is that a fact? As far as I was aware the King James Bible has as many mistakes as most other Bibles copied from other Bibles who copied from the Greek who copied from the Hebrew.
There’s enough facts out there to say KJV was a political Bible, Fact even a very good BBC documentary about it.
Perhaps you shouldn’t use the word fact when in fact it’s not a fact.
Re the KJV: Reminds me of the apocryphal saying that the King James Version is the only version God authorized because it says so in the title.