OTTC: A Blog for Old Testament Textual Criticism
This blog is intended to be an outlet for research and questions on the textual criticism of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and related issues.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Podcast on the HBCE Psalms Edition
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Manuscripta Bibliae Hebraicae
I just saw the Manuscripta Bibliae Hebraicae project has a nice website up. From the website, "MBH is an ACHN ANR project which supports the systematic study of Hebrew biblical manuscripts produced in Western Europe before 1300, with a view to establishing their typology on the basis of their form and content."
MBH is an ACHN ANR project which supports the systematic study of Hebrew biblical manuscripts produced in Western Europe before 1300, with a view to establishing their typology on the basis of their form and content."
Thursday, May 2, 2024
HBCE Psalms Call for Transcribers
- digital images of included manuscripts where permissible;
- full electronic transcriptions of included manuscripts and versions;
- semi-automatic collation of manuscripts and versions in multiple languages;
- eclectic critical text and extensive textual apparatus.
In return, we ask volunteers for a 25-hour commitment spread flexibly over 2 months (an average of 3–4 hours per week) from May through June 2024, including group training sessions. During this time, volunteers will take responsibility for transcribing several Psalms according to an assigned manuscript, which will then be incorporated into the critical edition. Transcribers will gain valuable expertise and experience working with manuscripts and cutting-edge methods of digital editing while contributing meaningfully to a major scholarly enterprise in the field. Transcribers will also be recognized for their contributions by name in the edition.
To sign up, fill out this Google form.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Perceptions of Writing in Papyri Recordings Online
The video recordings of presentations from the Perceptions of Writing in Papyri conference are now available online. This is a great overview of current work on how digital tools have impacted the study of ancient manuscripts.
Monday, February 5, 2024
Kantor on the Pronunciation of the Name Jesus
Ben Kantor has a useful article/video on the pronunciation of the name Jesus/Yeshua in Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic sources in the time of Jesus. This is a helpful resource for those confused by the pseudo-scientific discussions of Jesus's name that are abundant on the internet.
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Isaiah 9:6 and the Antiquity of the Masoretic Tradition
Today I was reading Isaiah 9:6 (Eng. v. 7) with some colleagues and came across a textual variant I had never noticed before.
and there shall be endless peace (NRSV)
Detail of Leningrad Codex. Photographer: Bruce E. Zuckerman.
My first instinct was to explain this away as a scribal error in the Aleppo codex I was reading from. This kind of confusion is common in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but I noted that it most commonly occurs on the archaic ־מו prefix (meaning "them") rather than in the middle of a word. A little more digging showed that the Leningrad codex has the same exact peculiarity, so this is certainly no accidental innovation in these manuscripts.
In 1QIsa-a, the scribe does not use a distinct form of final mem, but does leave a space between למ and רבה. It is worth noting that the scribe does not always write a distinct final form, as is evident in the second detail below from just a few lines above our verse. Thus, it appears that our scribe here likely read למ רבה as two words rather than one.
καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος·
ἐγὼ γὰρ ἄξω εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας,
εἰρήνην καὶ ὑγίειαν αὐτῷ (some mss αυτων).
(6) 7 μεγάλη ἡ ἀρχὴ αὐτοῦ,
καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅριον
and he is named Messenger of Great Counsel,
for I will bring peace upon the rulers,
peace and health to him (some mss them).
7(6) His sovereignty is great,
and his peace has no boundary (NETS)
Friday, December 15, 2023
Studies on Book Bindings
De Gruyter has published a new edited volume on manuscript bindings in comparative perspective.
Bausi, Alessandro and Friedrich, Michael, eds. Tied and Bound: A Comparative View on Manuscript Binding, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111292069
Abstract:
The present volume contains twelve chapters authored by specialists of Asian, African and European manuscript cultures reflecting on the cohesion of written artefacts, particularly manuscripts. Assuming that ‘codicological units’ exist in every manuscript culture and that they are usually composed of discrete elements (such as clay tablets, papyrus sheets, bamboo slips, parchment bifolios, palm leaves), the issue of the cohesion of the constituents is a general one. The volume presents a series of case studies on devices and strategies adopted to achieve this cohesion by manuscript cultures distant in space (from China to West Africa) and time (from the third millennium bce to the present). This comparative view provides the frame for the understanding of a phenomenon that appears to be of essential importance for the study of the structure of written artefacts. Regardless of the way in which cohesion is realised, all strategies and devices that allow the constituents to be kept together are subsumed under the term ‘binding’. Thus, it is possible to highlight similarities, convergences, and unique physical and technical methods adopted by various manuscript cultures to face a common challenge.