Chapter Thirteen. The Genesis Of Alexandria, The Rabbis And Qumran

Abstract

In the writings of rabbinic tradition we find a whole series of lists recording the changes of the biblical text that had been made intentionally by the translators when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek. This chapter concentrates on interpretations and transformations of Genesis in the Gnostic writings. It considers these corrections from the perspective of Qumran, where the text of Genesis is often interpreted and transformed. Only four of the seven corrections affecting Genesis are presented in the chapter. It examines the biblical manuscripts of Genesis from Qumran to see whether it was possible to discover traces of these corrections. Author had to change peprspective and approach these corrections from the viewpoint of the nonbiblical texts from Qumran, in the hope that these texts would provide some light, if not on the Genesis of Alexandria, at least on the reasons for these rabbinic corrections. Keywords: biblical text; Genesis of Alexandria; Gnostic writings; Hebrew Bible; Qumran; rabbinic corrections