Biblical Variations

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TILL
Biblical inerrantists who think that the books of the Bible have been
transmitted to us over the centuries without any substantial changes in the
text are living in a fantasy world.  A simple way to confirm that
substantial textual alterations have occurred is to compare the Septuagint
(Greek) translation of the OT to the Masoretic text.  The Septuagint was
translated in the third century B. C., and almost all English translations
are based on the Masoretic text, the earliest extant copy of which was the
Leningrad Codex, which dates from A. D. 1008.  In other words, more than 12
centuries separate the Septuagint from the oldest complete version of the
Masoretic.

Bible fundamentalists were ecstatic when a copy of the book of Isaiah was
found at Qumran, which proved to be essentially the same as the Masoretic
text, and they used this to argue that the biblical text had been
transmitted faithfully over the centuries with only minor changes, most of
which could be attributed to scribal carelessness.  In so arguing, they fail
to mention that fragments of the book of Jeremiah that conform to the
Septuagint version were also found at Qumran.  This is significant, because
the Septuagint text of Jeremiah is about 15% shorter than the Masoretic and
is very different in its organizational structure.  Chapter 26 in the
Masoretic, for example, is chapter 33 in the Septuagint; M-28 is S-35; M-29
is S-36; etc., etc., etc.  This evidence has led biblical scholars to
acknowledge that two versions of Jeremiah existed and that the longer,
differently organized Masoretic version represents a rewriting of the book.
In the fourth issue of *The Skeptical Review* (Autumn 1990, pp. 6-10, 12), I
published an article entitled "The Jeremiah Dilemma," which discussed some
of the implications of the Septuagint version of Jeremiah concerning the
prevailing notion that the Bible text was almost flawlessly transmitted
through the centuries by dedicated scribes, who counted alphabetic
characters on all of their scrolls to make sure that they had made no errors.

I have received from A. J. Mattill, Jr., a 72-page booklet, entitled
*Polluted Texts and Traditional Beliefs,* which details hundreds of
variations in various versions of the Bible.  Much of the material is about
variations in the Septuagint and Masoretic texts.  Here are examples of just
some of the variations that can be found on one page of this book (LXX =
Septuagint):

1.  Should Genesis 14:14 read that Abram "led forth" (MT) or "numbered"
(LXX) his fighting men?

2.  Would Abram be "buried" (MT) or "nourished" (LXX) in a good old age
(Genesis 15:15)?

3.  Did "he" (one of the angels, MT) or "they" (the angels, LXX) speak to
Lot (Genesis 19:17)?

4.  Did God tell Abraham to take his "only" (MT) or his "beloved" (LXX) son
(Genesis 22:2)?  Isaac was not an only son (Genesis 21:10).   

5.  Does Genesis 47:21 say that Joseph "made slaves of" (LXX) the Egyptians,
or that he "removed them to the cities" (MT)?

6.  Were Jacob's offspring seventy (MT) or seventy-five (LXX) persons
(Exodus 1:5)?

7.  Should Exodus 14:20 read, "And it [the pillar of cloud] lit up the night
(MT) or, "And the night passed" (LXX)?

8.  Should Exodus 14:25 read, "And [the Lord] took off their chariot wheels"
(MT)?  Of should it read, "And [the Lord] bound the axle-trees of their
chariots" (LXX)?

9.  Was the desert covered with "thin flakes that looked like frost" (MT) or
with "a small thing like white coriander seed" (LXX, Exodus 16:14)?

10.  Did Moses hold up "his hand" (MT) or "his hands" (LXX, SP) to empower
the Israelites to defeat the Amalekites (Exodus 17:11)?

11.  Did Moses name the altar, "The Lord is my banner" (MT) or "The Lord is
my refuge" (LXX, Exodus 17:15)?

12.  Should Exodus 18:9 read, "Jethro rejoiced" (MT) or "Jethro was
astonished" (LXX)?

13.  According to Exodus 24:4, did Moses set up twelve pillars (MT) or
twelve stones (LXX, SP)?  At Deuteronomy 16:22, Moses commanded the people
not to set up a pillar.  What, then, did he himself do at Exodus 24:4?  If
he set up twelve pillars, he violated his own command twelve times.  Or is
Deuteronomy 16:22 a much later law which Moses never heard of in his day,
and therefore he could have set up twelve pillars?  If so, LXX and SP
changed Exodus 24:4 to conform to the later Deuteronomic law.

14.  Did "Moses" (MT) or "Moses and Joshua" (LXX) go up on the mountain
(Exodus 24:15)?

15.  At Exodus 32:18 did Moses hear "the sound of singing" (MT) or "a voice
set off by wine" (LXX)?

In addition to variations between MT and LXX, Matill's booklet lists many
between MT and other versions like the Syriac and Vulgate.  With an average
of about 12 variations per page, this booklet identifies more than a
thousand textual variations. For those who may not know, A. J. Matill, Jr.,
has a Ph. D. and is a former Bible professor. He is now a UU minister and a
contributing editor to *The American Rationalist.*  He is known to many
skeptics through his book *The Seven Mighty Blows to Traditional Beliefs."
His booklet *Polluted Texts and Traditional Beliefs* markets for $5
postpaid, and can be ordered from The Flatwoods Free Press, Route 2, Box 49,
Gordo, Alabama 35466-9517.  He has no e-mail address.




Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net

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