The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica (review)

Abstract

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 94 Reviews biblical text. Exegetical procedures, as envisaged in the book, would serve these aims well. But if the intention is textual interpretation with practical and existential implications, historical procedures which lead only to an understanding of the genesis of the text are not always of equal importance. This criticism does not disregard the valuable contribution of the present book to the scientific articulation of exegetical work. The insistence of Steck on the fact that a particular view of the text must be based on verifiable argumentation, especially in terms of the exegetical procedures followed, can be appreciated. Those who take seriously the scientific dimension of exegesis will fmd the English version of Steck's work an important tool. I cannot think of a better explanation of critical exegetical procedure. Philip J. Nel University ofthe Free State Bloemfontein. South Africa THE TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLIA HEBRAICA. By Ernst Wtirthwein. 2nd edition. Pp. xiv + 293. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995. Paper. Generations of students have been introduced to the Hebrew Bible by Ernst Wtirthwein's Introduction, which first appeared in German in 1952 and in English translation in 1957; a second English edition appeared in 1979 (based on the 1973 German fourth edition) and was updated in 1985. The present work is a revised and enlarged second edition of the English translation by Erroll F. Rhodes, based on the fifth German edition which appeared in 1988. This revised English edition contains a useful appendix not found in the German edition, "Resources for Textual Research," by Harold P. Scanlin. The number of plates has been increased from the German edition as well: 48 in the 1988 German, 49 in the 1995 English (the extra plate is a picture and transcription of the Izbet Sartah abecedary added by the translator). Since this work is a re-edition of Wtirthwein's well-known introduction, it is not necessary to give a general description of the book. I will limit myself for the most part to a discussion of some of the changes which have been introduced in this second edition. Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 95 Reviews The discussion of the consonantal text of the Masoretic Text (pp. 130 has been modified somewhat in order to show that Kahle's view of how the authoritative text of the Torah came into existence has been questioned. Of special significance is the observation by Emanuel Tov that "independent texts" such as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls must be taken into account, along with any attempt at classification according to "text types," in order to account for the variety of readings, even though the relationships between these independent texts may be complex (The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research [Jerusalem, 1981], p. 274). Wiirthwein rightly notes that "more clarification is needed, some of which may come from the yet unpublished texts from Qumran Cave 4, before reliable conclusions may be drawn about the plurality of texts" (p. 15). Now that these texts are available in microfiche (E. Tov, The Dead Sea Scrolls on Microfiche: A Comprehensive Facsimile Edition of the Texts from the Judean Desert [Leiden: Brill, 1993]), this process of recognition may speed up. The multiplicity of the texts discovered at Qumran and the other Dead Sea locations should, at the same time, however, make us cautious in proposing theories which are too iron clad; the texts which have survived may alert us even more to the possibility of the existence of yet other texts which have not survived. On page 67, Wiirthwein returns to Tov's assessment of the significance of the variety of the Qumran material in order to conclude to the necessity of avoiding generalized judgments, especially with regard to 1 and 2 Samuel, Joshua, Ezekiel 40-48, Jeremiah, and Esther. Under the heading "Revisions and Later Greek Versions" (pp. 54-57), Wiirthwein mentions the kaige (or Palestinian) recension, as found in the Greek scroll of the Twelve Prophets found at Nal)al ijever. While Wiirthwein is correct in stating that it, along with the Papyrus Fuad 266, "demonstrates that even prior to Jewish-Christian discussions there had been...