Topic C: Transmission
Over the centuries, the Torah text has been handed down with great
precision and care. However, at different points in Jewish history,
there has been some confusion about the accuracy of the text,
and leaders have had to decide which text was the correct one
worth preserving.
The very late Talmudic story of Chanukah and the little jar of
oil may be similar to what happened in the tale told in the Talmud
of three scrolls. There, three scrolls are found in the Temple
Chamber. Although almost identical, each scroll has one minor
difference with the other two. In Exodus (24:5), two scrolls have
na'arei (young men) while one scroll has 'za'atutei' (the Aramaic
form). It is therefore called the 'Za'atutei' scroll. The other
scroll is the Ma'on scroll. They adopted the best 2 out of 3 to
determine the text.
Whether Ezra wrote the Torah or not, Ezra's followers, called
the Sofrim (scribes), continued the chain of tradition. These
scholars established the text of the Torah, and were responsible
for explaining it. Ultimately, they preserved the identities and
unity of the Jewish communities by preparing scrolls for them.
Because of their work, the Torah became the authority for regulating
Jewish life and allowed them to withstand to threat of Alexander
the Great's conquest and Hellenism.
What did the Sofrim do? They introduced the five 'medial' forms.
Five Hebrew letters have a 'final' form, and contrary to popular
supposition, it was the final form that was the original letter.
(Four of the five have long tails that are 'bent' up to make it
easier to write at the beginning or middle of the word.) They
also introduced the 'open' and 'closed' paragraphs (called pericopes)
that are often signified by a 'pey' or 'samech' in a printed chumash.
The Sofrim also made changes to spelling to aid in reading the
unvocalized Hebrew text by using the largely silent letters: aleph,
hey, yod and vuv. They instituted the substitution of 'Adonai'
for God's (ineffable) four letter name: YHVH.
The Sofrim also took liberties in editing the text: they felt
it was unseemly to have Gen. 18:22 read: 'and God was still standing
before Abraham,' so they changed it to read, 'and Abraham was
still standing before God.' They also censored the name of Baal
so Jerubbaal (he contends with Baal) was re-written (Jeruboshet)
to mean he contends with shame[ful idol]. Finally, when some books
ended on a discouraging note, the Sofrim instituted appending
the penultimate verse to end the book on a more optimistic tone.
The Sofrim may also have disqualified certain books from inclusion
in the Biblical canon.
Over history, more and more scrolls were needed by the Jewish
community. Scribes copied scrolls: some did an excellent job;
others were average in abilities. Depending on their location,
they might not have had access to an accurate master copy. Over
time, differences appeared in the text. Having a correct, fixed
text became the task of the Masoretes.
In another period of Jewish history, a different group of scholars
was responsible for the transmission of the biblical text. In
the 9th and 10th centuries in Tiberias, two academies flourished.
These scholars are known as the Masoretes. They devoted themselves
to a patient and careful study of the biblical text. They were
responsible for establishing how the Torah was to be written and
read. They added (ie. invented) vowels and cantillation (singing)
marks that helped in the correct reading of the text. They also
established K'ri and K'tiv- over a thousand places where they
felt we should not read what is written. For example, look up
in your Tanach Exodus 4:3. The printed (K'tiv) word is not vocalized,
and the word in the margin/footnote is read in its place.
Of all the Masoretes, the most famous was Rabbi Aaron ben Moshe
ben Asher. He supervised the production of a manuscript called
the 'Ben Asher Crown.' This most famous 'codex' (hand written
book - not scroll) was probably used by Maimonides and became
the standard that everyone relied on. He relates that he found
many scrolls at the time with errors. It is now known as the Aleppo
codex as it was housed in a synagogue in Syria for many years
before being smuggled to Israel. Another famous codex from Ben
Asher (1008 CE) is known as the Leningrad Codex.
In the 1500s the process continued. When the first printers attempted
to find an authoritative text, they collected Masoretic texts
from all over. Jacob ben Hayim spent seven years collecting and
scrutinizing the manuscripts to determine the best reading. He
writes (quoting Exodus 12:30), There was not a house where there
was not a corpse (ie. there was not a text without an error).
Until the modern period, printed Bibles were based on ben Hayyim's
edition. In 1937, two scholars, Kittel and Kahle published an
edition of the Bible based on the Leningrad Codex. This is known
as the Biblia Hebraica, and includes comparisons with ancient
translations and manuscripts noted at the bottom of each page.
Printed Bibles popularized chapter and verse divisions and numbering.
So we see, in its long history of canonization and transmission,
the Bible has endured, yet, the copy we have is only our best
guess as to what was given at Sinai. This history of the biblical
text is only one of many arguments as to why the "Bible Codes"
recently popularized is such a fallacy.
Classroom Forum
Topic C: