[size=14pt]In Jerusalem, scholars trace Bible's evolution[/size]
By MATTI FRIEDMAN - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 49 mins ago.

, JERUSALEM (AP) — A dull-looking chart projected on the wall of a university office in Jerusalem displayed a revelation that would startle many readers of the Old Testament: the sacred text that people revered in the past was not the same one we study today.

An ancient version of one book has an extra phrase. Another appears to have been revised to retroactively insert a prophecy after the events happened.

Scholars in this out-of-the-way corner of the Hebrew University campus have been quietly at work for 53 years on one of the most ambitious projects attempted in biblical studies — publishing the authoritative edition of the Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible, and tracking every single evolution of the text over centuries and millennia.

And it has evolved, despite deeply held beliefs to the contrary.

For many Jews and Christians, religion dictates that the words of the Bible in the original Hebrew are divine, unaltered and unalterable. For Orthodox Jews, the accuracy is considered so inviolable that if a synagogue's Torah scroll is found to have a minute error in a single letter, the entire scroll is unusable.

But the ongoing work of the academic detectives of the Bible Project, as their undertaking is known, shows that this text at the root of Judaism, Christianity and Islam was somewhat fluid for long periods of its history, and that its transmission through the ages was messier and more human than most of us imagine.

The project's scholars have been at work on their critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, a version intended mainly for the use of other scholars, since 1958.

"What we're doing here must be of interest for anyone interested in the Bible," said Michael Segal, the scholar who heads the project.

The sheer volume of information makes the Bible Project's version "the most comprehensive critical edition of the Hebrew Bible in existence at the present time," said David Marcus, a Bible scholar at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, who is not involved with the project.

But Segal and his colleagues toil in relative anonymity. Their undertaking is nearly unknown outside a circle of Bible experts numbering several hundred people at most, and a visitor asking directions to the Bible Project's office on the university campus will find that many members of the university's own staff have never heard of it.

This is an endeavor so meticulous, its pace so disconnected from that of the world outside, that in more than five decades of work the scholars have published a grand total of three of the Hebrew Bible's 24 books. (Christians count the same books differently, for a total of 39.) A fourth is due out during the upcoming academic year.

If the pace is maintained, the final product will be complete a little over 200 years from now. This is both a point of pride and a matter of some mild self-deprecation around the office.

Bible Project scholars have spent years combing through manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek translations on papyrus from Egypt, a printed Bible from 1525 Venice, parchment books in handwritten Hebrew, the Samaritan Torah, and scrolls in Aramaic and Latin. The last member of the original team died last year at age 90.

The scholars note where the text we have now differs from older versions — differences that are evidence of the inevitable textual hiccups, scribal errors and other human fingerprints that became part of the Bible as it was passed on, orally and in writing.

A Microsoft Excel chart projected on one wall on a recent Sunday showed variations in a single phrase from the Book of Malachi, a prophet.

The verse in question, from the text we know today, makes reference to "those who swear falsely." The scholars have found that in quotes from rabbinic writings around the 5th century A.D., the phrase was longer: "those who swear falsely in my name."

In another example, this one from the Book of Deuteronomy, a passage referring to commandments given by God "to you" once read "to us," a significant change in meaning.

Other differences are more striking.

The Book of Jeremiah is now one-seventh longer than the one that appears in some of the 2,000-year-old manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some verses, including ones containing a prophecy about the seizure and return of Temple implements by Babylonian soldiers, appear to have been added after the events happened.

The year the Bible Project began, 1958, was the year a priceless Hebrew Bible manuscript arrived in Jerusalem after it was smuggled out of Aleppo, Syria, by a Jewish cheese merchant who hid it in his washing machine. This was the 1,100-year-old Aleppo Codex, considered the oldest and most accurate version of the complete biblical text in Hebrew.

The Bible Project's version of the core text — the one to which the others are compared — is based on this manuscript. Other critical editions of the Bible, such as one currently being prepared in Stuttgart, Germany, are based on a slightly newer manuscript held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Considering that the nature of their work would be considered controversial, if not offensive, by many religious people, it is perhaps surprising that most of the project's scholars are themselves Orthodox Jews.

"A believing Jew claims that the source of the Bible is prophecy," said the project's bearded academic secretary, Rafael Zer. "But as soon as the words are given to human beings — with God's agreement, and at his initiative — the holiness of the biblical text remains, even if mistakes are made when the text is passed on."

http://news.yahoo.com/jerusalem-scholars-trace-bibles-evolution-092932128.html

Excerpt from a brothers comments :


'Come on people. Every single day there is something in the news to discredit the Bible, and to further the Theory of Evolution. We know the media is corrupt. We know who owns them. We know these people want to do away with the religions, and form a one world religion(and government). This is all part of the strong delusion. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings. Do not be deceived.'


"So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies." - 2 Thessalonians 2:11

"That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." -  2 Thessalonians 2:12


One day your prophet Muhammad and ALLAH will BOW before this JESUS CHRIST that you so malign.


"I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me."" 0 Iaiah 45:23

"Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth," - Philippians 2:10

Some simple reading: http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/Bible05.html


By the way, shouldn't you Moslems be focusing on Ramadan and "higher" things?

Their are obviously some minor errors in the copying of some verses especially with numerals etc. That doesn't take away the inspiration behind the bible .

christians keep living in an ocean of denial.i think even if Jesus himself comes back and tell them that the bible is out of shape and he tells them that he is only a servant and creature of God,they will call him liar.

we have in the news from Jerusalem,a home town of Jesus,a group of orthodox jewish scholars who made their findings.some blind christians are still talking nonsense and blaming muslims and evolution.funny people who open their mouth big about "repentance" but it them who dont want to repent and see the light and accept the truth!

before turning this into another muslim vs christian contest,it was not muslims who made the findings or led the project.it was the jews,the real owners of the old testament.

infact what they are saying,muslims have known that for centuries.infact if you even open the bible,you will find one verse call something "white" while the other verse is call the exact thing "black".this is no news for muslims.we already know.i only posted the news since it is coming for the horse's mouth!

Joagbaje:

Their are obviously some minor errors in the copying of some verses especially with numerals etc. That doesn't take away the inspiration behind the bible .

are you sure? check below-they are just a few and they are not even from different manuscripts but from the present bible christians carry under their hands:

The sins of the father
ISA 14:21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
DEU 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Who is the father of Joseph?
MAT 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
LUK 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.

Which was first--beasts or man?
GEN 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
GEN 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
GEN 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
GEN 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

The Righteous live?
PSA 92:12: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree."
ISA 57:1: "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart."

Jesus' first sermon-on the plain or mount?
MAT 5:1,2: "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, "

LUK 6:17,20: "And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people, came to hear him,  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, "


Who Moved David to anger?
II SAMUEL 24: And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
I CHRONICLES 21: And SATAN stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Does God Tempts or Not?
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham." (GEN 22:1)
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." (JAS 1:13)

How Did Judas die?
"And he cast down the pieces of silver into the temple and departed, and went out and hanged himself." (MAT 27:5)
"And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all of his bowels gushed out." (ACT 1:18)

Does every man sin?
ECC 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

JO1 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Who bears guilt?
GAL 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
GAL 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

Do you answer a fool?
PRO 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
PRO 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.


Did those with Saul/Paul at his conversion hear a voice?
ACT 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
ACT 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

^

LagosShia:

Do you answer a fool?
PRO 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
PRO 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

But of course the delicious irony will be lost on you.

@Alethea; ^^^^^^^^ what an irony when there are 2 opposite answers on a single topic, each proving the other to be wrong?

can we have 2 wrongs? yes.
can we have one right and the other wrong? yes.

can we have 2 completely opposite answers disagreeing and both of them right 100% on the subject? impossible.

you cant be chairman and the servant of the same chairman.

@Joagbaje; « #3 on: Today at 01:16:40 PM »
[Quote]Their are obviously some minor errors in the copying of some verses especially with numerals etc. That doesn't take away the inspiration behind the bible.[/Quote]what a combination of minor errors and inspiration!

where is Mr. "minor errors" aka "Joagbaje"?

Which is the word of God and which is the word of the devil. The holy Quran says "have u pondered in the Quran if it is from no other than Allah you would found in it a contradiction" Q4:82. This should also be applicable to the bible.

There is power in the bible.

Who are these bible scholars

2 Corinthians 3:6 (The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life)

Without the Holy Spirit, without the wisdom of GOD how can anyone understand the bible

These aint scholars mate !!

Aderoux: Which is the word of God and which is the word of the devil. The holy Quran says "have u pondered in the Quran if it is from no other than Allah you would found in it a contradiction" Q4:82. This should also be applicable to the bible.

There are so many contradictions in the Quran, I stopped counting !