3 Hebrew Text-Witnesses re Deletions of יהוה Made by the Sopherim as Reflected in the Received Text (MT) of Isaiah

 

There are least 134 emendations (surrogation of YHVH with Adonai) that the Sopherim made in copying some exemplar(s) of the Hebrew text; 23 occur in Isaiah. Of those 23, the Great Isaiah Scroll (GIS) reflects 14 of them; moreover, there is a use of YHVH in the main body of the text that the Essenes (?) did not consider to be original to Isaiah’s hand, and so Adonai was written as correction above it. Likewise for Adonai: there is one use of Adonai in the main body of the text that those scribes of GIS did not consider to be original to Isaiah’s hand, and so YHVH was written above it as correction. Why do we not see agreement, on the one hand, as respect the work of the scribes (said to be the lesser disciplined Essenes when compared to other scribes as respect their scribal skills¹) who produced the GIS, and, on the other hand, that work of other scribes whose transmission of the Isaianic text had almost twice the number of emendations (23 substitutions) of the Tetragrammaton with Adonai, as witnessed and reported by the Masoretes? The scribes of GIS made a total of 14 instances of editorial activity relevant the matter of the Tetragrammaton’s appearance in a text set before their eyes, so that that editorial activity is +60% of the 23 deletions of the Tetragrammaton made by the Sopherim when they finished making a copy of Isaiah that eventually became the property of the Masoretes who, in their own scribal work for making another copy of Isaiah, called out each of the 23 instances where that earlier generation of scribes (Sopherim copyists) had tampered with the text in Isaiah--and, of course, called out 111 other instances where those earlier scribes had tampered with other canonical works relevant this issue as well. There may well have been, as I think is probably so, hundreds more instances where the Sopherim made deletions of the Tetragrammaton and surrogated them with coded use of “Adonai,” but were not all known to the Masoretes, more likely the case if the Masoretes had come into possession of an incomplete catalog of the deletions. (See Ren Manetti, The Origins of ‘Adhonai in the Hebrew Scriptures.) We don’t have the luxury of having in hand, as we do respecting the GIS, any text(s) known to have come into the hands of the Masoretes whereby they were able to evaluate the worth of copying them for future posterity. Apparently, the GIS, as laudable as it truly is, was not representative of a similar Isaianic text that, as respect alterations of the Tetragrammaton and as respect other textual variants, had ever become an Isaianic text known to any of the Karaite Masoretes, else in their codices for presenting to view a recording of a standardized dialect of Hebrew (which in fact more closely resembles the Hebrew in the GIS than is so for the Mishnaic Hebrew dialect used in the writings of the rabbis) would not have made a greater number--9 more!--of indications of scribes’ alterations relevant the Tetragrammaton than that smaller number of alterations--whether authored or merely copied--by earlier scribes like those who were responsible for producing the GIS. 

 

3 Hebrew Text-Witnesses re Each of the Deletions of יהוה Made by the Sopherim as Reflected in the Received Text (MT) of Isaiah

 

The numbers highlighted in blue accent introduce a segment in which there are given 3 text witnesses for each reading that includes the GIS for its alteration of an occurrence of the Tetragrammaton in the passage specified for it.

 

1. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 3:17
ושפח אדני קדקד בנות ציון ויהוה פתהן יערה

Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC) Isaiah 3:17
וְשִׂפַּ֣ח אֲדֹנָ֔י קָדְקֹ֖ד בְּנֹ֣ות צִיֹּ֑ון וַיהוָ֖ה פָּתְהֵ֥ן יְעָרֶֽה

Great Isaiah Scroll2 (GSI) Isaiah 3:17a
And the YHVH (Jehovah) will strike with a scab the scalp of the daughters of Zion. [MT has Adonai. GIS has Adonai in the first hand, but has a correction with YHVH entered above the line by a second hand.]

GIS Isaiah 3:17b and the Lord their secret parts will lay bare. [MT here has YHVH, but here GIS has Adonai.]




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2. Aleppo Codex 3:18
יום ההוא יסיר אדני את תפארת העכסים והשביסים--והשהרנים

WLC Isaiah 3:18a
בַּיֹּ֨ום הַה֜וּא יָסִ֣יר אֲדֹנָ֗י אֵ֣ת תִּפְאֶ֧רֶת הָעֲכָסִ֛ים וְהַשְּׁבִיסִ֖ים

GIS Isaiah 3:18a
In that day YHVH (Jehovah) will turn aside the beauty of their bangles and tiaras and the woven hair pieces and the turbans. [GIS has YHVH (Jehovah) in the text, but the text has Adonay written above the line as correction.]

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3. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 4:4
אם רחץ אדני את צאת בנות ציון ואת דמי ירושלם ידיח מקרבה--ברוח משפט וברוח בער

WLC Isaiah 4:4
אִ֣ם ׀ רָחַ֣ץ אֲדֹנָ֗י אֵ֚ת צֹאַ֣ת בְּנֹות־צִיֹּ֔ון וְאֶת־דְּמֵ֥י יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם יָדִ֣יחַ

GIS Isaiah 4:4
When the Lord has washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and the blood of Jerusalem he has cleansed from her midst by the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning.
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4. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 6:1
בשנת מות המלך עזיהו ואראה את אדני ישב על כסא רם ונשא ושוליו מלאים את ההיכל

WLC Isaiah 6:1
בִּשְׁנַת־מֹות֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ עֻזִּיָּ֔הוּ וָאֶרְאֶ֧ה אֶת־אֲדֹנָ֛י יֹשֵׁ֥ב עַל־כִּסֵּ֖א רָ֣ם וְנִשָּׂא וְשׁוּלָ֖יו מְלֵאִ֥ים אֶת־הַהֵיכָֽל

GIS Isaiah 6:1
In the year of the death of King Uzziah I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up and His train filled the Temple.
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5. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 6:8
ואשמע את קול אדני אמר את מי אשלח ומי ילך לנו ואמר הנני שלחני

WLC Isaiah 6:8
וָאֶשְׁמַ֞ע אֶת־קֹ֤ול אֲדֹנָי֙ אֹמֵ֔ר אֶת־מִ֥י אֶשְׁלַ֖ח וּמִ֣י יֵֽלֶךְ־לָ֑נוּ וָאֹמַ֖ר הִנְנִ֥י שְׁלָחֵֽנִי

GIS Isaiah 6:8
And I heard he voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for Us and I said here am I send me.
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6. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 6:11
אמר עד מתי אדני ויאמר עד אשר אם שאו ערים מאין יושב ובתים מאין אדם והאדמה תשאה שממה

WLC Isaiah 6:11
וָאֹמַ֕ר עַד־מָתַ֖י אֲדֹנָ֑י וַיֹּ֡אמֶר עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁר֩ אִם־שָׁא֨וּ עָרִ֜ים מֵאֵ֣ין יֹושֵׁ֗ב וּבָתִּים֙ מֵאֵ֣ין אָדָ֔ם וְהָאֲדָמָ֖ה תִּשָּׁאֶ֥ה שְׁמָמָֽה

GIS Isaiah 6:11
Ask for yourself a sign from YHVH (Jehovah) your God it or from the height above.
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7. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 7:14
לכן יתן אדני הוא לכם--אות הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שמו עמנו אל

WLC Isaiah 7:14
לָ֠כֵן יִתֵּ֨ן אֲדֹנָ֥י ה֛וּא לָכֶ֖ם אֹ֑ות הִנֵּ֣ה הָעַלְמָ֗ה הָרָה֙ וְיֹלֶ֣דֶת בֵּ֔ן וְקָרָ֥את שְׁמֹ֖ו עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל

GIS Isaiah 7:14
therefore YHVH (Jehovah) himself will give to you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son and he shall call his name Immanuel. [YHVH is not here in MT; however, here Adonay is in MT.]
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8. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 7:20
ביום ההוא יגלח אדני בתער השכירה בעברי נהר במלך אשור
את הראש ושער הרגלים וגם את הזקן תספה

WLC Isaiah 7:20
בַּיֹּ֣ום הַה֡וּא יְגַלַּ֣ח אֲדֹנָי֩ בְּתַ֨עַר הַשְּׂכִירָ֜ה בְּעֶבְרֵ֤י נָהָר֙ בְּמֶ֣לֶךְ אַשּׁ֔וּר אֶת־הָרֹ֖אשׁ וְשַׂ֣עַר הָרַגְלָ֑יִם וְגַ֥ם אֶת־הַזָּקָ֖ן תִּסְפֶּֽה׃

GIS Isaiah 7:20
the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son. And YHVH (Jehovah) said to me
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9. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 8:7
כן הנה אדני מעלה עליהם את מי הנהר העצומים והרבים--את מלך אשור ואת כל כבודו
ועלה על כל אפיקיו והלך על כל גדותיו

WLC Isaiah 8:7
וְלָכֵ֡ן הִנֵּ֣ה אֲדֹנָי֩ מַעֲלֶ֨ה עֲלֵיהֶ֜ם אֶת־מֵ֣י הַנָּהָ֗ר הָעֲצוּמִים֙ וְהָ֣רַבִּ֔ים אֶת־מֶ֥לֶךְ אַשּׁ֖וּר וְאֶת־כָּל־כְּבֹודֹ֑ו וְעָלָה֙ עַל־כָּל־אֲפִיקָ֔יו וְהָלַ֖ךְ עַל־כָּל־גְּדֹותָֽיו׃

GIS Isaiah 8:7
Therefore behold YHVH (Jehovah) is bringing up on you the waters of the River Euphrates [{strong and with multitudes, even the k}]ing of Assyria.and all his glory and he shall go up over all his channels and over all his river banks. [Adonay is written above the line.]
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10. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 9:7 (BHK Isaiah 9:8)
דבר שלח אדני ביעקב ונפל בישראל

WLC Isaiah 9:7 (BHK Isaiah 9:8)
דָּבָ֛ר שָׁלַ֥ח אֲדֹנָ֖י בְּיַעֲקֹ֑ב וְנָפַ֖ל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל

GIS Isaiah 9:7 (BHK Isaiah 9:8)
The Lord sent a word upon Jacob and it fell in Israel.

Isaiah 9:17 is one of the 134 places where the Masoretes say that the Sopherim removed YHVH (Jehovah), and its removal is kept by BHK with Masoretes indication of the Sopherim’s emendation. BHK Isaiah 9:17 is Aleppo Codex Isaiah 9:18, and like the Aleppo codex, the versification is the same here in WLC Isaiah 9:18; however, WLC Isaiah 9:18 has YHVH (Jehovah), but Aleppo Codex does not.
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11. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 9:18
ביום ההוא יסיר אדני את תפארת העכסים והשביסים--והשהרנים

WLC Isaiah 9:18
בְּעֶבְרַ֛ת יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֹ֖ות נֶעְתַּ֣ם אָ֑רֶץ וַיְהִ֤י הָעָם֙ כְּמַאֲכֹ֣לֶת אֵ֔שׁ אִ֥ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֖יו לֹ֥א יַחְמֹֽלוּ

This is also the text in BHK; however, it has different verse numeration in BHK, for there it is BHK Isaiah 9:19, which is a recension of the received text (MT). As noted immediately above, Aleppo Codex Isaiah 9:18 also has YHVH (Jehovah) deleted and Adonai in its place. But the GIS Isaiah 9:19 (see below) uses a pronominal reference to Jehovah.

GIS Isaiah 9:18
From the fury of YHVH (Jehovah) of Hosts is the land scorched and they shall be even the people shall be fuel for the fire, no man shall pity his brother.

GIS Isaiah 9:19
And he will cut off on the right hand and be hungry and he shall eat on the left and not be satisfied, each man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
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12. Aleppo Codex 10:12
והיה כי יבצע אדני את כל מעשהו בהר ציון ובירושלם--אפקד על פרי גדל לבב מלך אשור ועל
תפארת רום עיניו

WLC Isaiah 10:12
כִּֽי־יְבַצַּ֤ע אֲדֹנָי֙ אֶת־כָּל־מַֽעֲשֵׂ֔הוּ בְּהַ֥ר צִיֹּ֖ון וּבִירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם אֶפְקֹ֗ד עַל־פְּרִי־גֹ֙דֶל֙ לְבַ֣ב מֶֽלֶךְ־אַשּׁ֔וּר וְעַל־תִּפְאֶ֖רֶת ר֥וּם עֵינָֽיו׃

GIS Isaiah 10:12
Because the Lord will finish all His work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. I will visit the fruit of the great heart
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13. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 11:11
ביום ההוא יוסיף אדני שנית ידו לקנות את שאר עמו--אשר ישאר מאשור וממצרים ומפתרוס ומכוש ומעילם משנער ומחמתומאיי הים

WLC Isaiah 11:11
בַּיֹּ֣ום הַה֗וּא יֹוסִ֨יף אֲדֹנָ֤י

GIS Isaiah 11:11

And it will come to pass in that day that the Lord will move his hand the second time to redeem the remnant of His people who remained from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea
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14. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 21:6
כי כה אמר אלי אדני לך העמ

WLC Isaiah 21:6
כִּ֣י כֹ֥ה אָמַ֛ר אֵלַ֖י אֲדֹנָ֑י לֵ֚ךְ הַעֲמֵ֣ד הַֽמְצַפֶּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִרְאֶ֖ה יַגִּֽיד

GIS Isaiah 21:6
Because thus said the Lord to me. go and cause a watchman to stand watch that which he sees let him tell.
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15. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 21:8
קרא אריה--על מצפה אדני אנכי עמד תמיד יומם ועל משמרתי אנכי נצב כל הלילות

WLC Isaiah 21:8
וַיִּקְרָ֖א אַרְיֵ֑ה עַל־מִצְפֶּ֣ה ׀ אֲדֹנָ֗י אָנֹכִ֞י עֹמֵ֤ד תָּמִיד֙ יֹומָ֔ם וְעַל־מִ֨שְׁמַרְתִּ֔י אָנֹכִ֥י נִצָּ֖ב כָּל־הַלֵּילֹֽות

GIS Isaiah 21:8
And he called out, [a lion], upon the watchtower my Lord, I am continuously standing daily, and upon my watch I am standing every night.
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16. Aleppo Codex 21:16
כי כה אמר אדני אלי בעוד שנה כשני שכיר וכלה כל כבוד קדר

WLC Isaiah 21:16
כִּי־כֹ֛ה אָמַ֥ר אֲדֹנָ֖י אֵלָ֑י בְּעֹ֤וד שָׁנָה֙ כִּשְׁנֵ֣י שָׂכִ֔יר וְכָלָ֖ה כָּל־כְּבֹ֥וד קֵדָֽר

GIS Isaiah 21:16
Because thus said YHWH (Jehovah) to me in yet in years as the years of a hired man all the glory of Kedar will be ended.
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17. Aleppo Codex 28:2
הנה חזק ואמץ לאדני כזרם ברד שער קטב כזרם מים כבירים שטפים הניח לארץ--ביד

WLC Isaiah 28:2
הִנֵּ֨ה חָזָ֤ק וְאַמִּץ֙ לַֽאדֹנָ֔י כְּזֶ֥רֶם בָּרָ֖ד שַׂ֣עַר קָ֑טֶב כְּ֠זֶרֶם מַ֣יִם כַּבִּירִ֥ים שֹׁטְפִ֛ים הִנִּ֥יחַ לָאָ֖רֶץ בְּיָֽד

GIS Isaiah 28:2
Behold strength He shows power even YHVH (Jehovah) as a downpour of hail and a destroying storm as a downpour of powerful waters overflowing [and] it shall be laid to rest nearby. [“le adonay” was written above the line.]
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18. Aleppo Codex 29:13
אמר אדני יען כי נגש העם הזה בפיו ובשפתיו כבדוני ולבו רחק ממני--ותהי יראתם אתי מצות אנשים מלמדה

WLC Isaiah 29:13
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲדֹנָ֗י יַ֚עַן כִּ֤י נִגַּשׁ֙ הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה בְּפִ֤יו וּבִשְׂפָתָיו֙ כִּבְּד֔וּנִי וְלִבֹּ֖ו רִחַ֣ק מִמֶּ֑נִּי וַתְּהִ֤י יִרְאָתָם֙ אֹתִ֔י מִצְוַ֥ת אֲנָשִׁ֖ים מְלֻמָּדָֽה

GIS Isaiah 29:13
And the Lord said on account of this people drawing near to my presence with their mouth and glorifying me with their lips while their heart is far from me and their awe of me by commandments of men is taught.
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19. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 30:20
נתן לכם אדני לחם צר ומים לחץ ולא יכנף עוד מוריך והיו עיניך ראות את מוריך

WLC Isaiah 30:20
וְנָתַ֨ן לָכֶ֧ם אֲדֹנָ֛י לֶ֥חֶם צָ֖ר וּמַ֣יִם לָ֑חַץ וְלֹֽא־יִכָּנֵ֥ף עֹוד֙ מֹורֶ֔יךָ וְהָי֥וּ עֵינֶ֖יךָ רֹאֹ֥ות אֶת־מֹורֶֽיךָ

GIS Isaiah 30:20
When the Lord gives to you bread of sorrows and water of affliction yet your teachers shall not be put in a corner any more but your eyes will be seeing your teachers.
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20. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 37:24
ביד עבדיך חרפת אדני ותאמר ברב רכבי אני עליתי מרום הרים ירכתי לבנון ואכרת קומת ארזיו מבחר ברשיו ואבוא מרום קצויער כרמלו

WLC Isaiah 37:24
בְּיַ֣ד עֲבָדֶיךָ֮ חֵרַ֣פְתָּ ׀ אֲדֹנָי֒ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר בְּרֹ֥ב רִכְבִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י עָלִ֛יתִי מְרֹ֥ום הָרִ֖ים יַרְכְּתֵ֣י לְבָנֹ֑ון וְאֶכְרֹ֞ת קֹומַ֤ת אֲרָזָיו֙ מִבְחַ֣ר בְּרֹשָׁ֔יו וְאָבֹוא֙ מְרֹ֣וםקִצֹּ֔ו יַ֖עַר כַּרְמִלֹּֽו

GIS Isaiah 37:24
By the hand of your servants you have reproached my Lord and you said by the multitude of my chariots I will go up to the highest mountains to the sides of Lebanon and I will cut down the high cedars from the choicest fir trees and I will go to the highest end of his Carmel.
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21. Aleppo Codex 38:14
כסוס עגור כן אצפצף אהגה כיונה דלו עיני למרום אדני עשקה לי ערבני

WLC Isaiah 38:14
כְּס֤וּס עָגוּר֙ כֵּ֣ן אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף אֶהְגֶּ֖ה כַּיֹּונָ֑ה דַּלּ֤וּ עֵינַי֙ לַמָּרֹ֔ום אֲדֹנָ֖י עָֽשְׁקָה־לִּ֥י עָרְבֵֽנִי

GIS Isaiah 38:14
Like a horse or a swallow, thus I chirped: I mourned like a dove: my eyes hang down from on high. O Lord (Jehovah) I have oppression; carry me over.
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22. Aleppo Codex Isaiah 38:16
אדני עליהם יחיו ולכל בהן חיי רוחי ותחלימני והחיני

WLC Isaiah 38:16
אדני עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם יִֽחְי֑וּ וּלְכָל־בָּהֶן֙ חַיֵּ֣י רוּחִ֔י וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִי וְהַחֲיֵֽנִי

GIS Isaiah 38:16
O Lord, upon these they live, and in all of them is the life of my spirit: and will you take the sickness from me and cause me to live.
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23. Aleppo Codex 49:14
ותאמר ציון עזבני יהוה ואדני שכחני

WLC Isaiah 49:14
וַתֹּ֥אמֶר צִיֹּ֖ון עֲזָבַ֣נִי יְהוָ֑ה וַאדֹנָ֖י שְׁכֵחָֽנִי׃

GIS Isaiah 49:14
But Zion said, YHVH (Jehovah) has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. ["my Lord" is written above the line.]
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Endnotes.

1. “The Essenes in Qumran who copied this scroll approximately 100 BCE are not to be considered the protectors of an accurate text identical with the Tanach which would have been revered by the Rabbis. They were actually far from the main stream and it is clear that the Q text of Isaiah is a "dialect" of Hebrew. It is not a translation, but is characterized by modifications in spelling and personal pronouns to match the then current Aramaic dialect that the Essenes would have spoken. It was much like changing "ye," "thee" and "thou" to "you" and "thine" to "yours" would be to us. Thus the preservation of an identical letter for letter received text was not at all a part of their motivation in their use of the scriptures. The Qumran texts that I have translated (1QaIsa) and (1QpHab) are dialects of Hebrew and not the Hebrew of the Tanach. Preservation of the original Hebrew letter for letter text was the role played by the Rabbis of the "main stream" in Jerusalem and Babylon (Sura, Nahardea and Pumbidita) and they had a special class, an office called Scribes, who carefully copied manuscripts then kept the new and destroyed the old. The Essenes were not and did not claim to be copyists of the same genre.

 

“With this fact in mind, (that the Qumran scribes used their own discretion to alter the text to fit their own dialect), then the correspondence between the text of the Great Isaiah Scroll and the Masoretic text of Isaiah is all the more 

remarkable.”

[see https://daip.getmyip.com/pdf/Documents/Great%20Isaiah%20Scroll.pdf]

“Great Isaiah Scroll D I R E C T O R Y All English text by Fred P Miller: Copyright © 1998”

 

Also, there are other places in GIS that exemplify relatively poor scribal work (of the Essenes?). We see that the scribe misspelled Isaiah’s name in the very first line of his copy he was making. And although the scribe kept in orderly fashion the lines of his copy we now identify as GIS, yet, when he was copying it into existence, from time to time he realized that he had erred in reproducing exactly what was in the exemplar-scroll set before his eyes. He had then to squeeze corrections into a space between lines, into a place above the line having the error, or he would indicate in the margin his fix for some error.

 

If you the reader of what I have presented in this brief paper about GIS’s treatment of the Tetragrammaton want to know more about GIS, then you may access certain web sites that variously present Fred P. Miller’s work on GIS. On one site you will see  photographs of the 17 parchments that comprise GIS, and presents his transcription of the Hebrew texts as they appear for all

but one of the parchment pages.

(see https://daip.getmyip.com/pdf/Documents/Great%20Isaiah%20Scroll.pdf). 

Also, you may access a site that presents his translation of the Hebrew into English (see https://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/qa-tran.htm#c30). You will notice that his translation incorporates symbols into the text. Mr. Miller gives the meaning of each symbol. On that site, all text and translation have been copyrighted by Fred P. Miller, 2001. 

Did There Ever Exist a Septuagint That Was a God-Inspired Copy of the Hebrew Bible?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       by Al Kidd

There are those who claim that the Greek Septuagint (LXX)--but which critical (eclectic) edition is supposed to most reliably embody it?--is generally more reliable than the Masoretic Text (MT). They hold that the LXX gradually came into existence beginning first with translation of the Pentateuch, which supposedly is translation from the hands of 70 (or 72) Jews commissioned by the Jewish high priest, and who worked 72 days in translating the Hebrew Pentateuch while together in Alexandria, Egypt in the third century B.C.E. More translational product followed in the second century BCE and beyond. That part of Christendom that is the Eastern Orthodox tradition holds with the Letter of Aristeas that the Septuagint was miraculously translated from Hebrew into Greek by 70 or 72 Jewish scholars (six from each one of the 12 tribes) working separately--each translator-editor alone in his opwn cell--in Alexandria. They hold that where it can be shown that the original Greek translations differed in substance from the Hebrew Vorlagen of their day, then God inspired those translators at work in Alexandria for poduction of the LXX that would show corrections for a reading that was also tantamount to a retroversion in Hebrew, a recovery--a re-creating--of all that part of God's Word as it should have continued to perfectly exist in a Hebrew text up to the day when commenced the formation of the LXX.

Actually, however, the LXX, compiled in the pre-Christian era from Greek translations of Hebrew texts, was not an inspired translation of Hebrew texts. No part of the LXX--not even that part of the Tanakh admitted by all to be the first part of it translated, namely the Pentateuch, which of course is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church along with all the rest of the LXX--is translation from a single, fixed, priest-approved corpus of Hebrew sacred texts (the Tanakh) archived in antiquity in some synagogue and/or in the Temple. The LXX was translation of a pluriform body of pre-Masoretic Hebrew texts (Vorlagen), reflecting textual diversity in late Second Temple Judaism, with different books often translated separately, leading to textual variations later seen in the Great Isaiah Scroll and proto-Masoretic texts. The LXX shows no internal evidence that it is a Greek translational corpus (Torah, Prophets, and the Writings) all of it produced within a certain (relatively short) time frame under the auspices of an editor/editorial committee charged with keeping all the translators working in harmony with the same appreciation for the tenets of a Judaism free of sectarian influences, and who then and there gave the “miraculously perfect” product of that translation enterprise its name, “Septuagint." And yet there soon enough became identifiable a translational corpus of the Tanakh accessible to Jews and proselytes in Judea, Egypt,  and in all the diaspora, all of them able or potentially able, of course, for communication with each other via the lingua franca Koine Greek. But no part of the enterprise of translating the Tanakh was either perfect or even known to have been overseen by religious authority in accordance with a nonsectarian body of editor-translators working in close proximity. But there are other facts that contravene the tale that the LXX is inspired by God. For a fact the LXX embraced scientific, historical, and spiritual error, as may be seen in its adoption from pagan Greek writers of, among other things, the concept that re’em was a singly-horned creature, and thus translatable as monokeros (Greek), or unicornis (Latin). More of the LXX's translational failed efforts will follow so that this post will accordingly expand its content in days ahead.

There is no empirical evidence which might dispose us to believe that there was in existence a perfect copying of the Scriptures. Indeed, all the Scriptural texts extant in manuscripts known to us are none of them an autograph, an original and perfect text from the hand of a God-inspired writer. Therefore, neither (a) the originally penned Greek-translations of the Hebrew Scriptures based on any Hebrew texts that had come into the hands of the translators--even if any or all of those Hebrew or Aramaic texts were, in the most unlikely of events, themselves the very autographs written by God-inspired Jews--, nor (b) any of those original translations into Greek (which may well have been for a period of time a collection of scrolls placed together in some Alexandrian library and/or in the Temple in Jerusalem, and serving as templates for subsequent copies of those Greek translations, and which Augustine of Hippo called “libris septuaginta” = “the books of the seventy”) gives us any reasonable basis for holding that those translational texts maintained the perfection of the autographs, likely a perfection lost centuries before the commencement of the LXX's production. So, we may hold that Josephus, Philo, Justin Martyr, and Augustine were unreasonably optimistic and certainly in error when asserting that the original Greek translational works of the Tanakh were divinely inspired. Neither as respects the original Jew-copied productions of the “Septuagint” (so made from the third-century BCE onward into the second century CE), the Latin Vulgate, nor the KJV English translation can any of them reasonably be viewed as embodiments of a perfect translational reflection of any of the Hebrew texts that had come into existence as copies of works that were originally penned at the hands of God-inspired writers, whether those writers be (a) the more than 39 writers of the perfect Hebrew autographs of the Tanakh or (b) the 8 writers of the 27 perfect autographs that closed out the Biblical canon in the first century as typically confessed—atypical confessions exist, too—by all traditions that lay claim to being true Christianity.

Scholars tell us that there were revisions of the “LXX” that contained extra-canonical but nonetheless highly esteemed Jewish writings. An example of such a revision is kaige-Theodotion (a revision style for improving the received Greek translation texts of the Hebrew Vorlagen) that, if not begun by Theodotion, was continued or standardized by Theodotion and included at least Baruch and the expanded version of Daniel, while Origen’s and Lucian’s revisions included most of the Apocrypha. For most LXX revisions, however, we do not know vis-à-vis manuscript evidence how many of even the biblical (canonical) books were included in those revisions for the earliest copies of the LXX. Some of the revisions, such as the kaige-Theodotion and Aquila’s, were widely circulated among Jews, but even so, the pre-70 C.E. Pharisees held to a canon of the Scriptures that did not admit acceptance of the deuterocanonical books. Such books were accepted by Hellenistic Jews for a broader collection of manuscripts comprising some versions of the LXX.

We have extant first-century fragments of deuterocanonical books, yes, but not a first-century canonical collection that proves that the deuterocanonical books were ever universally recognized as part of a fixed Greek Bible whether before, in, or after the first century. No, we have no basis for conclusion that apostolic-era Christians used a version of the LXX that had deuterocanonical scrolls mixed in among the canonical scrolls. The 22-book count, as given by Josephus, was an early Jewish marker for the authoritative canon, corresponding to the number of Hebrew letters, and was influential in early Christian discussions about the Old Testament, even as variations in counting (like the 24-book count) also existed. Josephus's testimony is a significant piece of evidence that many, perhaps most, first-century Jews excluded the Apocrypha from their strictest, most sacred category of Scripture, supporting the premise that the Hebrew canon was largely established by that time.

2 Maccabees with its account of some Jew(s)’ ‘prayer for the dead,’ probably found acceptance among Hellenized Jews, but the prayer apparently needed some apologetic expressed for it in 2 Maccabees for making the idea for such prayers as widely palatable as possible, metaphorically speaking, because even among the Pharisees (who accepted the pagan, unscriptural doctrine of a person's continuous existence beyond biological death), the deuterocanonical collection of books was not a thing agreed upon by Pharisees as comprising a corpus of inspired Scriptures, with possible exception to Sirach. However, beyond that single, high-profile scroll’s having been found at Masada and quotation of it (Sirach) being cited sometimes in the Talmud, we do well to remind ourselves that certain other sites (namely, Qumran, Masada, Nahal Hever caves, Nahal Darga/aka Wadi Murabba’at, Wadi Daliyeh, Ketef Jericho) were not repositories for biblical writings only. That is to say, one did not find in those places only the writings such as one might have expected to find in sites should they have been administered by those like the Pharisees, for their repositories would have contained only canonical books that you would expect to find in a synagogue's library in first-century Galilee or Judea. The Pharisees generally held to a narrower canon, while other groups, including Hellenistic Jews, used a broader collection. It is a matter of debate as to how much of the Tanakh was accepted by the Sadducees as canonical, inspired Scripture; good argument can be made that they accepted more than the Torah as divinely inspired Scripture, but elevated only the written Law of Moses and not the alleged existence of an oral Law supposedly in existence ever since Sinai as respects what can authoritatively ground legal interpretation, ancient Israel's "constitution." And the Sadducees rejected resurrection doctrine found in Daniel and in other canonical books of the Tanakh, and found also in later "intertestamental" books of the Maccabees, inter alia. That does not mean that apostolic Christians did not find historical worth in 1 Maccabees, nor did they condemn Hanukkah, which is a feast detailed in 1 and 2 Maccabees. 

I will begin with the next sentence an excursus that will continue through three paragraphs, this one and the two following it. True, we have no Scriptural account showing us that God commanded Hanukkah celebrations; however, inasmuch as it was some centuries after the first century that it came to have paganish trappings that emulated Saturnalia’s displays of lights and gift-giving, then we accordingly have no misgiving about Jesus’ presence in Jerusalem during a Hanukkah celebration, which was long before paganish elements were allowed in.

Hanukkah begins on Khislev 25, and for the year that John 10:22 references, it was on Tuesday, December 15, 32 C.E. Gregorian calendar. (It was four months prior to Jesus' death in Jerusalem during the daylight hours of Nisan 14, 33 C.E.) It was an 8-day wintertime festival but absent, as we have said above, those pagan customs that were later adopted, particular reference being made here to those customs typical of the pagan Romans’ celebration of Saturnalia. (As to why John mentions that the altercation recorded in John 10 was in winter when it was known among Jews, of course, that Hanukkah was a wintertime festival, John may have found it advisable to include specific mention of the winter season. This would serve as an explanation for why Jesus was walking in a sheltered place, the Colonnade of Solomon, because there is where he would have found some protection against the strong East winds of winter. Incidentally, that detail rules against any likelihood that shepherds were in open fields keeping watch over their flocks during wintertime.)

The events of John 10: 22-39 occurred at some point in time during the 8-day Hanukkah festival. Following that altercation, Jesus withdrew to a certain Bethany outside Judea, namely the Bethany that was across the Jordan River on the far side of it in respect its location relative to Jerusalem’s location, and was a town likely located south of the Sea of Galilee.