THE EARLIEST TEXTS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE

The much-debated reconstruction of the early Scripture texts has several theoretical-philosophical and practical aspects, as this chapter demonstrates. In the absence of ancient evidence, and with the knowledge that only a small part of the data is known, only theoretical models are left. These models have been adapted to the growing understanding that variant literary traditions in the biblical books are relevant to the understanding of the earliest evidence. After a review of the history of scholarship, model a of an early text (or a series of changing texts) is preferred to model b (early parallel texts). The practical aspects of this discussion involve the comparison of variants and the preparation of text editions. From around 1900 onward there was a regression in risk-taking in textual judgment and the reconstruction of the earliest texts, in other words, a move toward the Masoretic Text.