Text and Canon of the Hebrew Bible: Collected Studies

Shemaryahu Talmon

Published by Penn State University Press 2010

Text and Canon of the Hebrew Bible

Collected Studies

Shemaryahu Talmon

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575066233

Overview
Contents

About this book

The essays by Shemaryahu Talmon (1920-December 15, 2010) presented in this fourth volume of his collected studies in English were written against the background of the momentous manuscript finds at various sites in the Judean Desert, including approximately 200 biblical or Bible-related manuscripts and manuscript fragments discovered at Qumran. These discoveries date from the crucial period of the turn of the era and afford scholars unprecedented information on the early transmission history of the biblical text.

Talmon likens the transmission process (in agreement with Paul Kahle, and contrary to Paul de Lagarde) to a confluence of variant pristine traditions that Judaism, Christianity, and the Samaritan communities severally channeled into one fixed and closely circumscribed text form. It is his thesis that at least some of the “biblical” manuscripts and fragments from Qumran preserve original variants of the wording in the Masoretic Text, which eventually was recognized and transmitted in Judaism as the acclaimed and exclusively binding wording of the Hebrew Bible. These manuscripts and fragments evidence a “textual strategy” consisting of the interaction of the original authors and the transmitters of their work. Scribes and editors were minor partners of the authors. They did not refrain from occasionally changing wordings within a given range of “poetic license,” often adapting literary techniques and patterns that had been used by the primary creators of the texts that they copied.

The 18 essays reprinted in this volume relate to a variety of phenomena that affected the biblical literature in the stages of transition from oral tradition to hand-written transmission, initially in Paleo-Hebrew, then in the square alphabet, and ultimately in the promulgation of the Masoretic version in print.

Talmon’s articles published herein initially appeared over a period of about 50 years, thus giving expression to his developing thought regarding the transmission history of the biblical text up to the present time. The papers have undergone revision in the process of preparing the present volume. Scholars and students alike will benefit from owning and using this superb comprehensive collection of studies.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Sigla Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
The Textual Study of the Bible: A New Outlook Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the “Heard” and the “Seen” Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
The Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet and Biblical Text Criticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Synonymous Readings in the Masoretic Text Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Double Readings in the Masoretic Text Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
1 Sam 15:32b: A Case of Conflate Readings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
A Case of Abbreviation Resulting in Double Readings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
Emendation of Biblical Texts on the Basis of Ugaritic Parallels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
A Case of Faulty Harmonization Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
The Town Lists of the Tribe of Simeon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
(1 Chr 2:55) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Amen as an Introductory Oath Formula Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315
An Apparently Redundant Reading in the Masoretic Text (Jer 1:18) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
The Three Scrolls of the Law Found in the Temple Court Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329
Prolegomenon to The Ten Nequdoth of the Torah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
Pisqah Be'emşa' ' Pasuq and the Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 (11QPsª) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	369
Textual Criticism: The Ancient Versions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	383
The Crystallization of the “Canon of Hebrew Scriptures” in the Light of Biblical Scrolls from Qumran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	443
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	499
Index of Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	503
Index of Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	538

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 560

eBook

Published: June 23, 2010
ISBN: 9781575066233