This has been taken from my textbook The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction
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The Text of the Hebrew Bible
We have seen that the earliest writings of the Hebrew Bible were probably produced during the eighth century BCE. This is the date of the oldest prophets such as Amos and Isaiah of Jerusalem. When an ancient author produced a book, he obviously wrote it out by hand. And if anyone wanted a copy, he had to copy it by hand (or pay someone else to do it for him) – one page, one sentence, one word, one letter at a time. The term “manuscript” literally means “hand-written copy.” The books of the Hebrew Bible were passed down in manuscript form year after year, century after century. It was not until the invention of the printing press in the 15th century CE that things changed. Then it was possible to mass produce copies of books. And more important, it was possible to make sure that every single copy of a book was exactly like every other copy, with no sentences, words, or even letters different, from one copy to the next. That was not the case with manuscripts. Scribes who copied a text could change the text whenever they felt the need: maybe they thought the copy they were copying had a mistake in it and they wanted to correct it; maybe it didn’t say exactly what they wanted it to say, and so they changed it. Moreover, scribes could simply make a mistake when they were not adequately trained to do the job of copying, or when they were inattentive, or sleepy.
The Manuscripts
The first printed copy of the Hebrew Bible (that is, from a printing press) appeared in 1488. Before then, for over two millennia, the Bible…
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Very interesting
Bart help me with some dates! Not romantic dates, just dates.
You just said the first books of the bible were written in the 8th Century BCE. Ok. But you’ve also said to me that Genesis was influenced by Enuma Elish and Noah’s Ark by Gilgamesh during the Babylonian Exile. The Babylonian Exile wasn’t until the 6th or 5th Century BCE. See the problem?
How can they first start writing the earliest books of the bible and yet be influenced later. Unless..They changed them as they went???
The Book of Genesis was probably not written in the form we have it until long after the 8th c BCE. THe oldest Hebrew books (the ones I was referring to) are some of the prophets: Amos and Isaiah, for example.
OK! Then I am assuming very wrong that the Jews wrote the Old Testament in order. Why does nobody tell me this stuff.
Ah, they do — you just need to know where to look!
I agree that Genesis, and for that matter the whole Torah, was not put together into any like its current form until long after Amos. Possibly Ezra (c. 450 BCE) is as responsible as anyone. But we also know that the Judahites carried various scrolls and oral traditions with them into exile, which probably included some early version of the current texts.
The Mesopotamian influence on Genesis is possibly from general cross-cultural communication, but I understand that there is some specific evidence; archeologists have found a number of cuneiform tablets in the ancient northern kingdom, possibly or probably scribal exercises, which include bits of the Gilgamesh story, the Codex Hammurabi, and other texts. These date to the Israelite kingdom period. So I think it reasonable to speculate that there was pre-exilic influence as well.
While many of the stories and passages may go back as far as the 9th century BCE, the actual Hebrew Bible itself — the Torah, the Prophets and much of the Writings — was actually written in the 6th or 5th century. Indeed, the Hebrew Bible itself gives a clue as to when it was written. There is a clear narrative throughline from Genesis up to the end of Second Kings, which ends with Cyrus the Great liberating the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Again, while some of the stories and disparate material may go back centuries earlier, the actual bulk of the Bible was written after Cyrus liberated the Jewish exiles, some time in the late 6th century, early 5th century BCE.
I just want to be clear about this point…I was always told that the Jewish scribes were so careful, that they would count the letters on a page they were copying, and if there was a single dispute, they would have to start over. Are you saying that this type of diligence only started in the medieval times? And that we don’t know how careful they were prior to this time?
Yes, this started after the Massoretes (see today’s post)
“Jewish scribes were known to be highly scrupulous, so that the text known in the year 1000 CE, it was believed, was the same as the text known in the year 1 CE.”
If true, this would be an example of where false memory would not be in play.
This reminds me of when my sister told me that all of the original manuscripts were at the Vatican. I didn’t even question it. I said, yeah, that makes sense because the Pope is definitely the False Prophet from Revelation. We just couldn’t figure out why America wasn’t in there. I kinda miss believing in the ridiculous.
hello Bart
How can I access the section on
“Is the Hebrew text reliable………………………….”
It appears to have been removed,
Thank you
I don’t see those words in this post, so I’m not sure what you’re referring to!
Read Jeremiah 8:8 and ponder.It was written by jewish scribes.
Bart, random post ! I love your blog! I appreciate your hard work every day! I appreciate you writing every day ! Your are doing wonderful things Mr! I am sure Sarah is very proud of you! Keep it up don’t stop! We are the teachers! We see from out side perspective! A good song to go with a Glass of wine ! I rise my Glass to you and your hard work ! Thank you ! Thank you for teaching ! Yes there is suffering . Yes we can not do anything about it. Yes we have to sit and watch… we control our destiny ! our future ! It is why we are grateful to have a good life! Naturally we have a burning chest from feeling sorry the less fortunate and different story ! natural instinct to help someone in need .. that is god,….. all on earth together ! all go together ! never turn your head.. never have a blind eye …. always question why are they suffering … well they have a different story Bart … I have learnt this from you! ,…. Again.. With a glass of wine, I raise my glass to you ! Your hard work is recorded and documented …. you will be rewarded ! It has to be True.. Be proud .. Be happy!!
perfect song for moment ….
2pac – Changes
Helllllllo Bart.
Why have you never focused on the Battle of the Fridgid River, Theodosoius vs Eugenius, as at least as important battle as the Milvian Bridge for the rise and spread of Christianity throughout the empire? Or would you disagree?
To my knowledge this was the last stand of paganism against Christendom.
I think the conflict of Theodosius and Eugenius is a bit blown up in some accounts of the “conquest” of Christianity; on the Milvian Bridge, this is the entire first chapter of my forthcoming book on the topic!
Hello Bart
I am looking for the blog
That went something like this “Are the Hebrew scripts a reliable source…………….”
It seems to have disappeared
I mentioned the author “The Worlds 16 Crucified Saviours” by Kersey Graves. Your comment about it was that it was fatally inaccurate.
I also mentioned in that blog “The invention of the Jewish people” by Shlomo Sands.
Can you help?
The easiest way would be for you to make a comment on a particular post — then I would have a point of reference for knowing what you were referring to!
If my math is correct, you are saying that the canon was formalized, roughly, around 100 CE.
We know the story – in broad strokes – of how the NT canon came to be; what is the story on the Hebrew canon? How did it (finally) get formalized?
I wouldn’t say formalized, so much as “generally agreed on.”
Well I’m stunned. I had no idea … really NO IDEA. When you write “Hebrew Bible” would that be the Old Testament or is it something else? I’ve snagged some of your Bible History TC videos and will spend January 1 listening.
Yes, the “Old Testament” is the Christian designation for the “Hebrew Bible”
hello Bart
I am a little puzzled……………You had a section on “Is the texts of the Hebrew biblr reliable………..”
It now seems to have disappeared….?
I addressed the readers with “Ladies and Gentleman………….”
Can you recall what I am referring to. I left a comment about Achoraya S and was interested in your reply to that….
Please please can you help.Thank you.
I’m not sure you’re reading my earlier comments that I don’t know what you’re referring to. If you will indicate which post I said that in, I can reply. As to A.S., she was one of the most ignorant (and outspoken) authors I’ve ever read! I don’t know what was driving her to say the things she did, but scholarship was not her goal! Or if it was, she didn’t know how to pursue it.
Dr. Ehrman!
You say three things I would like you to elaborate on if you will.
1. On what basis do you conclude that the Torah was not written prior to the 8th century BCE? What evidence do you have to come to this conclusion?
2. On what basis do you conclude that there was no precise system in place for writing Torah scrolls as there is today? What evidence do you have that leads you to this conclusion?
3. In a related post you suggest the vast majority of Israelites were illiterate in the 5th century BCE? Why do you come to this conclusion?
I ask these questions simply because it would be difficult to have any implementation of Jewish society without the Torah. Just as it would be difficult to implement American society without The Constitution. Would the Torah not have to be written sometime prior to Soloman’s Temple in order for Israelite society to exist beforehand?
1. Too length for a comment here: I discuss the matter at length in my textbook The Bible 2. See the Appendix in my book The Bible 3. I don’t think it’s a disputed point. See any study of ancient literacy. For even later times when Israelites were *more* literate, see Catherine Hezser LIteracy in Roman Palestine.
Thanks Dr. Ehrman! I’ll see if I can get my hands on those at the library. -Danny