SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

144 Chapter 5: Writing Practices
Joel 4 2 6 73 12.16
Amos 15 15 30 146 4.86
Obadiah 0 0 0 21 0
Jonah 2 1 3 48 16.0
Micah 7 9 16 105 6.56
Nahum 2 1 3 47 15.66
Habakkuk 5 4 9 57 6.33
Zephaniah 5 0 5 53 10.60
Haggai 3 4 7 37 5.28
Zechariah 27 10 37 211 5.70
Malachi 4 3 7 55 7.85
Psalms 0 0 0 2527 0 (see below)
Proverbs 1 46 47 915 19.46
Job 13 25 38 1070 28.15
Canticles 19 1 20 117 5.85
Ruth 0 1 1 85 43.00
Lamentations 84 5 89 154 1.73
Qohelet 2 1 3 222 74.00
Esther 12 11 23 167 7.26
Daniel 8 22 30 357 11.90
Ezra–Nehemiah 186 66 252 685 2.71
1 Chronicles 184 72 256 943 3.68
2 Chronicles 93 74 167 822 4.92
Whole Bible 1962 1172 3136 (23173) 11.61
The personal taste of the scribes of the manuscripts included in the archetype of MT is clearly
visible in several instances. While most books in MT average one section unit per 7–10 verses
(the average of 11.61 for the whole Bible is higher due to such small books as Ruth and Qohelet),
some books stand out having a substantially lower or higher percentage.
• The story of Ruth has virtually no section units, although they are called for at several points in the story,
especially after 1:22 and 3:18. The only place in which a division is indicated in MT is after 4:17 (closed section),
separating the main story from the genealogy of David in 4:18-22. 2QRuth a,b and 4QRuth a,b have no content
divisions either, but these manuscripts are fragmentary. The locations in ch. 3 in which such divisions could have
been indicated are shown by M. C. A. Korpel, “Unit Division in the Book of Ruth: With Examples from Ruth 3,”
in Korpel–Oesch, Delimitation Criticism, 130–48 referring to divisions indicated in manuscripts of the ancient
versions and by modern interpreters.
• Genesis, containing mainly narratives, has far fewer sections than the other narrative books (one section per
17.04 verses). That this book has very few section divisions is illustrated by a comparison with the rewritten story
of Genesis 14 in 1QapGen ar. There are no divisions at all in this chapter in MT, while the parallel pericope
1QapGen ar has two closed sections in XXI 23 ff., one indented section, and one open section. Since 1QapGen ar is
fragmentary, the complete text could have contained more divisions. Likewise, the medieval manuscripts of Genesis
have no sense divisions between Gen 28:10 and 32:14, nor between 41:1 and 44:18. In these narrative chapters,
BHS inserted many section units; the Qumran manuscripts are too fragmentary a source for information, while in one
instance 4QGen e has an open section after 43:10.
• Among the books of the Minor Prophets, Nahum and Jonah stand out having very few section units: one
division after an average of 15.66 and 16.0 verses respectively. Likewise, very few sections are found in Proverbs
(one per 19.46 verses) and Job (one per 28.15 verses). In Job, these divisions usually occur at the ends of what later
became chapters.
• Very frequent sections are found in Lamentations (a closed section after an average of 1.73 verses), Ezra-
Nehemiah (after an average of 2.71 verses), and 1–2 Chronicles (after an average of 4.3 verses).
• The situation in Psalms differs from that of the other books. There are no open or closed sections in the
Masoretic manuscripts within the Psalms, but many manuscripts indicate spaces between hemistichs.
• Qohelet has very few content divisions. 2QQoh a,b have no content divisions at all, but these manuscripts are
fragmentary.