Textual Criticism of Old Testament Manuscripts and Resources

The Protestant Church

Last week we looked at how the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church view the Old Testament text. In brief, within Eastern Orthodoxy, the Septuagint (LXX) (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) is considered authoritative. Within Roman Catholicism, it is the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Old Testament) that is considered authoritative.

For Protestants, the Scripture was inspired in the original language. All translations, no matter how carefully done, are still translations. Therefore, the authoritative Old Testament text is the Hebrew text. However, given the variety of texts, and also the old translations that were used even with the New Testament (such as the Septuagint) there are times in which a different text is thought to be closer to the original.

In general, for Protestant scholars and translators, the Masoretic text is the default text. The other texts are consulted, but only followed against the Masoretic Text in unusual circumstances. For example, there are times where a number of other text traditions will agree together against the Masoretic text. In such cases, Protestant scholars often follow the other texts, or at least put them in a footnote in the Bible. Also, there are times when the New Testament seems to clearly be quoting the Septuagint in a way that is distinct from the Masoretic text. In such cases, the Septuagint may be preferred and seen as more closely preserving the original text. But these cases are rare; in general, for Protestants, the Masoretic text is the authoritative text for the Old Testament.

Once again, I hasten to remind us that none of this raises any legitimate question about the text of Scripture. The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are by far the most well-preserved and verified texts of the ancient world. All of these practices of textual criticism are only possible because we have such a vast set of manuscripts available. And all of this is done to help us make sure that we determine carefully the text God has given to us. Even though we are separated by thousands of years from when the books of the Old Testament were written, we can have greater assurance of what those texts contained than at any previous time in history. God has preserved His Word for us – praise be to His Name!

In Christ,

Bret