Who killed #Goliath?
Everyone knows David did, but depending what Bible version you read, 2 Samuel 21:19 may tell you that some guy named Elhanan did too.

Of course, maybe there were two Goliaths in Gath.

Or this is a pretty clear example of textual corruption that I just stumbled across today.

This isn't a variation among witnesses to 2 Samuel, but the parallel text in 1 Chronicles 20:5 is different in a few very significant letters.

1/x #HebrewBible

I'm in #Nehemiah 3, and so lots of the textual variations are names. In 3:15, the first person's name is different in the various witnesses:
MT: שַׁלּ֣וּן
LXX: Σαλωμὼν
Pesh: ܫܠܘܡ = Vulg. Sellum

MT's שַׁלּ֣וּן occurs nowhere else, and differs from Pesh/Vulg by an m/n interchange.

LXX is odder, but "Solomon" is usually spelled שלמו in Hebrew, which agrees with Pesh/Vulg except for a transposition.

Either MT is secondary, or scribes "corrected" unique שַׁלּ֣וּן to more common שלום.
#HebrewBible

@Kainoscope_

As you say, all terms are loaded. Dealing with words is often making the least bad choice in context (at least for those of us without legions of adoring fans).

In my observation (as an outsider), #BiblicalStudies scholars (outside of conservative Christian schools) seem to have landed on #HebrewBible due to the concerns you highlight, but typically keep New Testament. That's one solution, as long as we remember what gets lost (e.g. Aramaic, textual criticism). 🙂

@Kainoscope_ @orthoheterodox1

The term #HebrewBible runs into the difficulty that even in the canonical Masoretic texts there are Aramaic sections (in Daniel, Ezra, and one verse in Jeremiah).

"Greek Bible" should certainly include not only "New Testament" but also the Greek translations of the earlier material (and some apocrypha/pseudepigrapha?). In some places, the Old Greek version preserves evidence of a reading older than the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew (as argued by E. Tov).

Another possible, though uncertain, paleo-Hebrew variation is in the following verse, where MT reads חַטּ֖וּשׁ and OG ᾿Αττοὺθ, possibly representing Hebrew חטות. #Hebrew ש vs. ת are not very similar, but they are closer in Paleo-Hebrew 𐤔 vs. 𐤕. However, the difference could also be Uncial #Greek C vs. Θ, so it might not be a Paleo-Hebrew variation.
#PaleoHebrew #textualcriticism #HebrewBible

Random question: are there any good lists of ancient #Egyptian loanwords in ancient #Hebrew ? I'm interested in sound correspondences between the writing systems in particular, and I thought that loanwords might give useful evidence.
#HebrewBible #AncientEgypt

I often find it easier to illuminate part of textual transmission phenomena than to adjudicate what the original text of the #HebrewBible must have been. Therefore much of my textual criticism is incomplete.

#introduction
I love textual criticism, especially multilingual textual criticism, and the #HebrewBible/Old Testament.

I am NOT an expert in that field (my PhD is in something else), so I am just an amateur, exploring hypothetical possibilities of textual criticism.

World's oldest Hebrew Bible sells for $38 million

https://www.dw.com/en/world-s-oldest-hebrew-bible-sells-for-38-million/a-65666539?maca=en-dipa_news_mstdn-34613-xml-mrss

#CodexSassoon #HebrewBible

"The oldest most complete Hebrew Bible is on display inIsraeli city of #TelAviv before its sale at an #auction. The #CodexSassoon is thought to have been created about 1,100 years ago by a #scribe in Egypt or the #Levant. It is the earliest surviving example of a single manuscript containing all 24 books of the #HebrewBible with punctuation, vowels, and accents. It will go under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York in May, where it could fetch $30m to $50m (£24m-£41m)." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-65043875

“The Lord bless you and protect you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord bestow divine grace upon you, And grant you peace.”
“Thus so they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
-Numbers 6:24-27

Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the Tabernacle of Witness, and behold, the staff […] had sprouted with buds and bloomed blossoms and yielded ripe almonds!
-‭‭Numbers‬ ‭17‬:‭8‬ ‭

The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take the serpents away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery seraph serpent figurine, and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.”
So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it upon a pole, and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
-Numbers‬ ‭21‬‬:‭7-9‬

You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I, the Lord, am dwelling here among the children of Israel.’ 
‭‭-Numbers‬ ‭35‬:‭34‬ ‭

#BibleStudy #BibleStory #BookOfNumbers #HebrewBible #ChristianBible #Scripture #BibleVerses #BibleQuote

How tall was Goliath in the Bible? This is a clip from my latest video with Paul Davidson, Full vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhnZ3P6HCA

#BiblicalStudies #HebrewBible

How tall was Goliath in the Bible? This is a clip from my latest video with Paul Davidson, Full vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhnZ3P6HCA

#BiblicalStudies #HebrewBible

How tall was Goliath in the Bible? I explore this textual difficulty with Paul Davidson in my latest video. Full vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhnZ3P6HCA

#BiblicalStudies #HebrewBible

Professors John Collins and Harold W. Attridge discuss Formation of the Biblical Canon - Old Testament. This video is part of a larger project called Yale Bible Study.

https://youtu.be/lsU-RkF5c24

#YBS #BibleStudy #YaleDivinitySchool #Yale #HebrewBible #OldTestament

Thrilled to share the cover & TOC of my new edited book, Economics & Empire in the Ancient Near East, out in March

#BiblicalStudies #AncientHistory #Economics #Empire #Bible #HebrewBible #OldTestament #AncientNearEast #SouthwestAsia #book

Seek the Lord while he may be found;call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their wayand the unrighteous their thoughts;let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts,nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your waysand my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heavenand do not return there until they have watered the earth,making it bring forth and sprout,giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;it shall not return to me empty,but it shall accomplish that which I purposeand succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joyand be led back in peace;the mountains and the hills before youshall burst into song,and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:6-11 NRSVue #BibleQuotes #BibleVerse #HebrewScripture #HebrewBible #Scripture #Religion

I've just updated another of my #BiblicalHebrew tools – readings of the entire Hebrew Bible by Abraham Shmuelof, paired with the Masoretic Text of the Bible from Sefaria, with an optional interlinear display of the JPS translation of the Tanakh.

Check it out here: https://grahame.dev/shmuelof/

I've found listening and tracking along helpful for building reading proficiency. Plus, the recordings themselves are a fascinating historical artifact.

#biblicalstudies #hebrewbible #classicalhebrew

Just had my first class of the spring semester. It is the second #HebrewBible course of the two that are required at my seminary. Grateful that after this course I won't have to take another #academic #Bible course. Luckily the professor who teaches it makes the class a fun experience. One of the best parts is that we don't have to do a big research project. There will be a bunch of smaller projects spread over the semester.

Q: What do I do at 3:45am after dreaming about explaining an ideal of regulated #anarchy in the #HebrewBible to neighbors I barely know?

A: Go to my computer & continue writing my book, of course
#iamwriting