hatsoff

Hey, everyone. Without a formal education in related fields, I'm struggling to push my way into issues of textual criticism. I have met with some limited success as far as the New Testament goes, but I'm completely lost when dealing with Jewish writings.

I think it's time I introduced myself to Genesis, specifically textual variants and the documentary hypothesis. Would anyone care to help me get started understanding the origins of the book? Or should I start somewhere else? I probably need primers on the Masoretic text, the LXX, the DSS, any other major sources for OT material, and their inter-relationships.

I'd always prefer an interactive learning experience, and my library is awful, anyway. If there are any must-read books, though, I could probably arrange an intra-library loan to obtain necessary materials. Please keep in mind though, this is only a hobby. I can't let my grades slip because I'm bogged down in personal Judeo-Christian research. Right now I just want some introductory material.

If anyone is interested in helping me out, please let me know. Thanks!

gregor

without question, the introduction to the documentary hypothesis is found in Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible. Required reading for the origins of Genesis through Jeremiah.

And yes, there are some challenges to the DH, but start with Friedman.

Dean Anderson

Before cracking open any books, I'd read the Some basic questions thread that is stickied at the top of this forum.

Most of your questions have already been answered in there.

But if you want to specifically examine the Documentary Hypothesis in more detail, I would second gregor's recommendation of Friedman's books.

hatsoff

Thanks, guys. In addition to the DH, however, I was looking for textual variants in Genesis. Is there a site where I can compare ms. discrepancies?

Phoenix From Ashes

hatsoff, I'm afraid there aren't too many here on IIDB who really know this stuff anymore, as they've all gone away or been banned, but I'll give a stab at it.

As for websites, I can't think of any off the top of my head that give actual variants in Genesis. However, here are a couple that give an introduction to textual critcism of the Old Testament (you might try some google searches on Old Testament/Tanach/Tanakh/Hebrew Bible along with textual criticism/variants...something like that and just browse around).

Good online introductions to the subject of Old Testament Textual Criticism:
http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn/OTCrit.html
http://www.bible-researcher.com/hebrewtext.html
http://www.bible-researcher.com/links08.html

These are beginning books that I cannot recommend highly enough:
The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica (or via: amazon.co.uk)
Invitation to the Septuagint, Karen H. Jobes (or via: amazon.co.uk)
Old Testament Textual Criticism: A Practical Introduction (or via: amazon.co.uk)
Textual Criticism: Recovering the Text of the Hebrew Bible (or via: amazon.co.uk)

If you want to actually see the variants, I would recommend finding or purchasing the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), which is a "critical edition" of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament (be aware that the BHS is very difficult to read unless you know some Hebrew and Latin):

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BIBLE SOCIETY (or via: amazon.co.uk)

WRT to the Documentary Hypothesis, don't worry about it. It is a "chasing after the wind". It is more a creation of the genius of scholars than anything real in the text itself, but that is just my opinion.

Good luck! It is an exciting subject. If you need any resources for New Testament textual criticism, just let me know and I'll post some (ie. if I don't get banned, like some others, for knowing too much ).

Toto

Note: no one is banned for "knowing too much." Posters are banned for refusing to follow the rules and using sock puppets to deceive.

gregor

Oh Phoenix, can you see my house from your cross?