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MT (Jer 10:2–13)<br />

EUGENE C. ULRICH 85<br />

2 …<strong>the</strong> way of <strong>the</strong> nations…<br />

4 …with…gold <strong>the</strong>y beautify it; with nails <strong>and</strong> hammers…<br />

9 … + vv. 6–8 …blue <strong>and</strong> purple are <strong>the</strong>ir clo<strong>the</strong>s…<br />

11 … + v. 10 …will perish from <strong>the</strong> earth…<br />

13 …from <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> earth. Lightnings…<br />

The MT <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> LXX differ in quantity of text <strong>and</strong> differ in order of <strong>the</strong><br />

text. The MT has a much longer text, including verses 6–8 <strong>and</strong> 10, which<br />

are lacking in <strong>the</strong> LXX; in line 6 <strong>the</strong> MT adds about forty extra words<br />

that are not in <strong>the</strong> LXX <strong>and</strong> must be presumed absent from 4QJer b .<br />

Moreover, <strong>the</strong> second half of MT verse 5 is found in <strong>the</strong> LXX after verse<br />

9, so that <strong>the</strong> LXX order of verses is 4, 5a, 9, 5b, 11. As <strong>the</strong> column in<br />

4QJer b is reconstructed, verse 5b must spatially have followed <strong>the</strong> extant<br />

text from verse 9, <strong>and</strong> thus <strong>the</strong> same quantity <strong>and</strong> order of text encountered<br />

in <strong>the</strong> LXX must be assumed to have been in 4QJer b . As a minor<br />

confirmation, observe that 4QJer b agrees with <strong>the</strong> LXX in displaying <strong>the</strong><br />

order “hammers [<strong>and</strong> nails…]” against <strong>the</strong> MT order “nails <strong>and</strong><br />

hammers.” As we analyze <strong>and</strong> compare <strong>the</strong> LXX <strong>and</strong> MT forms of<br />

Jeremiah, it becomes clear that <strong>the</strong> LXX is an earlier edition of <strong>the</strong> text,<br />

<strong>and</strong> that <strong>the</strong> MT is a secondary <strong>and</strong> exp<strong>and</strong>ed version based on <strong>the</strong> earlier<br />

edition witnessed by 4QJer b <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> LXX. In this example <strong>the</strong> status<br />

of <strong>the</strong> MT is reversed compared to what we see in <strong>the</strong> examples from<br />

4QpaleoExod m (4Q22), 4QNum b (4Q27), <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> SP. Finally, many<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r biblical <strong>scrolls</strong>, including especially 4QSam a (4Q51), have demonstrated<br />

various examples of ancient Hebrew texts documenting individual<br />

readings attested by <strong>the</strong> LXX, <strong>and</strong> thus grounding <strong>the</strong> LXX as often<br />

a solid witness to an ancient form of <strong>the</strong> Hebrew Bible that is simply different<br />

from <strong>the</strong> Textus Receptus h<strong>and</strong>ed down in <strong>the</strong> MT.<br />

More Examples: 4QJosh a (4Q47), 4QJudg a (4Q49),<br />

11QPs a (11Q5), 4QRP a (4Q158)<br />

Analogous examples have been presented elsewhere for numerous books<br />

spanning <strong>the</strong> entire Hebrew Bible, <strong>and</strong> so a few examples will suffice<br />

here. 13 I later explore some of <strong>the</strong> significance of this phenomenon for<br />

tracing <strong>the</strong> history of <strong>the</strong> biblical text (below). 14<br />

13. See, e.g., Eugene Ulrich, “The Canonical Process, Textual Criticism, <strong>and</strong> Latter<br />

Stages in <strong>the</strong> Composition of <strong>the</strong> Bible,” in Sha(arei Talmon: Studies in <strong>the</strong> Bible, Qumran,

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