KJV Questions and Answers - Far Eastern Bible College

words of the original language Scripture Jesus promised would bepreserved until the very end of time in Matt 5:18 (quoted as a proof textfor the doctrine of biblical preservation—“kept pure in all ages”—by theWestminster theologians). Matthew Henry likewise believed in the jotand-tittlepreservation of the Scriptures: “Heaven and earth shall cometogether, and all the fulness thereof be wrapt up in ruin and confusion,rather than any word of God shall fall to the ground, or be in vain. Theword of the Lord endures for ever, both that of the law [i.e. OT], and thatof the gospel [i.e. NT]. ... for whatever belongs to God, and bears hisstamp, be it ever so little, shall be preserved.”(27) What does the Dead Sea Scrolls tell us about thepreservation of the Hebrew Scriptures?The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) were discovered accidentally in 1947by a bedouin boy. There is still much debate over the origins of thesescrolls. The generally accepted theory is that the Essenes (ultrafundamentalistJews who desired the isolated life of the desert) wereresponsible for them. Although the DSS display considerable similarity tothe traditional Masoretic Text (MT) especially in the book of Isaiah, itdeparts radically from the MT in many other parts like the Psalms. TheDSS contain nine entirely new and unheard of psalms that are not foundin the traditional Hebrew Scripture. Many of the psalms show a corruptedhand. For instance, in verse 16 of Psalm 22, which is a Messianic psalm,the DSS read, “like a lion are my hands and feet,” which makes no sense.The traditional Hebrew text, on the other hand, reads, “they pierced myhands and my feet,” obviously pointing to the crucifixion of Christ (cf.Matt 27:35).All said and done, our confidence in the Hebrew Scriptures must reston the very Scriptures Jehovah has “kept pure in all ages,” viz. thetraditional Hebrew Masoretic Text. It goes without saying that the DSSmust be examined in the light of the Masoretic Text and not vice versa.(28) Is Psalm 12:7 talking about God’s preservation of Hispeople or of His words?Ps 12:6-7 reads, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silvertried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, OLORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Thewords “keep them” and “preserve them” in verse 7 refer to “the words of26 KJV Q&A