Introduction to the Critical Edition

Abstract

Abstract Outside the field of Hebrew Bible, there is little doubt concerning the purpose of textual criticism. Maas states unequivocally, “The business of textual criticism is to produce a text as close as possible to the original (constitutio textus)” (1958: 1). The current article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica begins, “The technique of restoring texts as nearly as possible to their original form is called textual criticism” (Kenney 1992: 614). The production of critical texts by means of the analysis of manuscripts, the adjudication among variant readings, and, when necessary, the reconstruction or conjecture of better or original readings is the purpose of textual criticism. Aside from this goal, there is little justification for the labors of the textual critic.