Peter Kirby

There seems to be some interest in the FAQ, and as a FAQ relies on the existence of questions, supposedly asked frequently, I would pose...what vexes us frequently in the study of the Hebrew Bible? What questions do you have, and what questions have you noticed that others have? Fire away!

Dark Virtue

I have a question...what books/writings were left OUT of the canon that became the Bible, and why?

RED DAVE

1) What are the earliest fragments of the Hebrew Bible extant?

2) Are there any references, especially early references, to the Hebrew Bible in the religious (or other) writings of other ME and non-ME peoples?

RED DAVE

Apikorus

The earliest fragments are the biblical scroll fragments from Khirbet Qumran (a.k.a. Dead Sea Scrolls), dating as far back as the 2nd century BCE. The Ketef Hinnom amulets, which apparently contain fragments of biblical text, are significantly older, probably from the 7th century BCE. By contrast, the earliest extant complete masoretic codex is the Leningradensis, from the early 11th century CE.

GenesisNemesis

1. God told Noah to take "Clean/Unclean beasts" into the Ark before Noah even knew about "Clean/Unclean beasts". So how did Noah know?

2. Why did Noah have to take land animals into the Ark if he didn't take any fresh-water creatures, which somehow miraculously survived the Flood? Why even make an Ark? Why couldn't Noah miraculously survive as well?

Riverwind

Currently the oldest text of the Hebrew Bible (from book of Numbers):

<edited due to unavailability>

7th century BCE silver scroll found in Jerusalem on display in the Israel museum in Jerusalem.

Riverwind

Doesn't Aleppo date to the mid-to-late 10th century? I was thinking at least one Hebrew manuscript did...

Apikorus

Aleppo is no longer complete. It was partially destroyed in anti-Jewish rioting in 1947 -- about a third of it was burned (allegedly). It dates to the mid-10th century, as you say.

By the way, the image you posted is of one of the Ketef Hinnom amulets.

spin

Not knowing the source of the text on this artefact, one cannot say that this is the oldest text of the Hebrew bible. It's an unsupported assumption. This may well have been an old prayer that was later incorporated into the HB. Think for example of the Isaiah citation (27:1) of Ugartic mythology or the Egyptian solar prayer which is the apparent source for Ps 104.


spin

Apikorus

I concur with your caution, but I'd add the following. First of all, if the 7th c. BCE dating is accepted, then "biblical" is an anachronism since much -- very likely most -- of the Torah itself had not yet been composed. That the Torahitic authors and redactors worked in disparate elements of oral (and written?) traditions into their texts is widely accepted. Finally, the KH amulets are clearly Israelite, as they refer to YHWH. So whether or not one wants to identify them as "the oldest extant text of the Hebrew Bible," they certainly deserve mention in that context, since they are Israelite, Iron Age artifacts which contain text which appears in the HB.