SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 23
therefore the category of scribes specializing in sacred writings probably developed only in
rabbinic circles.
f. Background of scribal traditions
The scribal practices embedded in the documents from the Judean Desert reflect the writing of the
period under review. However, at the same time they also reflect writing styles continuing from
earlier periods when scribal practices for literary and documentary texts on papyrus and leather,
as well as for inscriptions on other types of material, were developed. Several practices shared by
the Judean Desert texts and Aramaic documents of the fifth century BCE (ch. 8b) lead us to believe
that many texts from the Judean Desert continue earlier traditions of writing in the square script.
To a lesser degree, scribes were influenced by the Alexandrian Hellenistic scribal traditions (as
reflected especially in some correction procedures analyzed in ch. 8c). At the same time, it is
unclear whether certain scribal practices had developed at an earlier stage of the writing of Hebrew
in square characters, or were influenced by contemporary customs in neighboring countries (see,
for example, the discussion of the use of the paragraphos in ch. 5c1).
g. Approaches of scribes to their Vorlagen
The approach of scribes to literary texts changed over the course of the centuries; with regard to
the biblical text it also differed from one milieu to another, and above all from person to person.
For the period preceding the earliest Qumran documents (deriving from the mid-third century
BCE), and also, to a great extent, the period under review, the term ‘scribe’ is somewhat misleading.
The function of the scribe was less technical and subordinate than is implied by the medieval and
modern understanding of the word. The earlier scribes were involved not only in the copying of
texts, but to a limited extent also in the creative shaping of the last stage of their content.
Expressed differently, at one time scribes often took the liberty of changing the content, adding
and omitting elements, sometimes on a small scale, but often substantially. 44 In this context, one is
reminded of the aforementioned use of sofer as an author in 11QPs a XXVII 2 (referring to David).
The nature of this creative scribal activity requires us to conceive of the persons involved as
scribes-editors, who were not only active in the transmission of texts, but also in the final stage of
their creative edition. This applies to most compositions found at Qumran, but not for all milieus,
since in the texts belonging to the Masoretic family this freedom was not sanctioned in the period
under consideration.
Some scribes acted with more precision than others with regard to their Vorlagen and the
manuscripts they created. Three different aspects seem to be involved in the definition of scribal
precision:
• Precision in copying. Common to all scribes was the unconscious creation of scribal mistakes
(minuses, pluses, changes, and differences in sequence). The fewer mistakes made, the more
careful the scribe must have been. Some scribes were more prone to making mistakes than others,
and in principle, a scribe who otherwise remained close to his Vorlage could nevertheless have
erred as much as others. Accordingly, careful and careless scribes can be identified anywhere in the
Qumran corpus.
• The approach to the Vorlage. It would be simplistic to say that a scribe either did or did not
follow his Vorlage closely. What is at stake is not just the faithfulness of scribes to the text from
which they copied, but their general philosophy regarding their role in the transmission process.
44 On the other hand, A. R. Millard, “In Praise of Ancient Scribes,” BA (1982) 143–53 opined that scribes in the ancient
Near East meticulously represented their Vorlagen, allowing only for minor orthographic variations. However, that
description does not address the whole spectrum of the reality in antiquity. In the present context, this topic cannot be
treated satisfactorily. For some data and analyses, see Tov, TCHB, chapters 3 and 4.