08-22-2004, 07:22 PM
Sorry Akhi, but I have to agree here with David and Dan. I read past that paragraph too quickly. No doubt the issue of OT textual transmission is complex and also no doubt that the Samaritan Pentateuch, Dead Sea Scrolls, LXX and P-Tanakh each in their own ways help unravel a very knotty puzzle. But to imply that the MT is the product of Satan--even in passing--no Akhi, that's irresponsible.
Let me explain this clearly as I can. The editor of the Jewish Publication Society, in their 1999 Hebrew English Tanakh, acknowledge in their preface that a perfectly transmitted OT as the MT is impossible. Instead, they take the idea that theyhave produced a DEFENSIBLE text from the best ancient sources that are evident to a large degree in the MT's attempts to standardize them. So but for a few odd lines (like Cain's statemetn to Abel not being recorded in MT although it is clearly supposed to be there and is added by the LXX itself being derived from pre MT Hebrew) I believe we have a very strong case for many original readings well preserved in the Pentateuch, where the codes themselves derive.
At least, I don't recall Drosnin and company pulling codes out fromt he Prophets and the Writings, but perhaps Akhi Dave can correct me there if I am wrong.
Now granted, Psalm 22:16 is a later and egregious reading, but then again MT Isaiah is extremely well attested to in the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are problems, no question. But you know something, we are told about these EVEN IN TANAKH and NT. Daniel is told to seal up a book until the time of the end, and Isaiah 29 talks about a sealed book in a language he can't read, probably Aramaic to my mind, it being before the exile. Rav Shaul talks about us seeing through a glass darkly, and that tomorrow we will know face to face. Even the talmidim of Y'shua did not have the Scriptures opened to them until AFTER they followed him for three years (Luke 24). As a result of that opening with the Holy Spirit, THE ENTIRE PESHITTA NT IS CODED!
But, as for the OT, YHWH encoded just the first five books (as far as I am aware) which are EXTREMELY WELL PRESERVED IN THE MT, and backed by readings in P-Tanakh, DSS and LXX. They all, in their ways, testify to the same truth, and therefore, to the extent that the MT version of Torah is well preserved, we should expect it to be encoded, and it is. Or are you going to say the books of Moses were not really around in essentially that form prior to the Middle Ages? Here's a clue, don't try it, becaue it is not true. The encodings in the first five books are YHWH's way of telling us to listen to the rest of His word, but to also know that Messiah is the one who will ultimately bring the best understanding of that, both through his Gospel message and his iminent return.
Don't slander the MT. It has problems, but it should never be called evil.
LO TOV! (no good) <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/sleepy.gif" alt="" title="Sleepy" /><!-- s -->
Let me explain this clearly as I can. The editor of the Jewish Publication Society, in their 1999 Hebrew English Tanakh, acknowledge in their preface that a perfectly transmitted OT as the MT is impossible. Instead, they take the idea that theyhave produced a DEFENSIBLE text from the best ancient sources that are evident to a large degree in the MT's attempts to standardize them. So but for a few odd lines (like Cain's statemetn to Abel not being recorded in MT although it is clearly supposed to be there and is added by the LXX itself being derived from pre MT Hebrew) I believe we have a very strong case for many original readings well preserved in the Pentateuch, where the codes themselves derive.
At least, I don't recall Drosnin and company pulling codes out fromt he Prophets and the Writings, but perhaps Akhi Dave can correct me there if I am wrong.
Now granted, Psalm 22:16 is a later and egregious reading, but then again MT Isaiah is extremely well attested to in the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are problems, no question. But you know something, we are told about these EVEN IN TANAKH and NT. Daniel is told to seal up a book until the time of the end, and Isaiah 29 talks about a sealed book in a language he can't read, probably Aramaic to my mind, it being before the exile. Rav Shaul talks about us seeing through a glass darkly, and that tomorrow we will know face to face. Even the talmidim of Y'shua did not have the Scriptures opened to them until AFTER they followed him for three years (Luke 24). As a result of that opening with the Holy Spirit, THE ENTIRE PESHITTA NT IS CODED!
But, as for the OT, YHWH encoded just the first five books (as far as I am aware) which are EXTREMELY WELL PRESERVED IN THE MT, and backed by readings in P-Tanakh, DSS and LXX. They all, in their ways, testify to the same truth, and therefore, to the extent that the MT version of Torah is well preserved, we should expect it to be encoded, and it is. Or are you going to say the books of Moses were not really around in essentially that form prior to the Middle Ages? Here's a clue, don't try it, becaue it is not true. The encodings in the first five books are YHWH's way of telling us to listen to the rest of His word, but to also know that Messiah is the one who will ultimately bring the best understanding of that, both through his Gospel message and his iminent return.
Don't slander the MT. It has problems, but it should never be called evil.
LO TOV! (no good) <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/sleepy.gif" alt="" title="Sleepy" /><!-- s -->
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Andrew Gabriel Roth