{"id":13030,"date":"2016-02-25T19:59:02","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T19:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/for\/?p=13030"},"modified":"2016-03-17T16:35:31","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T16:35:31","slug":"fluidity-of-jewish-texts-examined-during-third-session-of-theologian-in-residence-lecture-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/parent-news\/2016\/fluidity-of-jewish-texts-examined-during-third-session-of-theologian-in-residence-lecture-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Fluidity of Jewish texts examined in third session of Theologian-in-Residence series"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Travis Williams explains the phenomenon of \u201cRewritten Scripture\u201d during the third session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series. <\/p><\/div>\n

The fluidity of the Jewish texts found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the phenomenon of \u201cRewritten Bible\u201d were explored during the third session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series on Tuesday at Tusculum College.<\/p>\n

Dr. Travis Williams, assistant professor of religion at Tusculum, is presenting lectures on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible as part of the annual lecture series sponsored by Tusculum College and partially funded by Ron Smith.<\/p>\n

Dr. Williams began his lecture by posing the question about why some might doubt that the text found in modern English Bibles is what the authors originally wrote. He noted some of the reasons could include the temporal difference between the ancient authors and modern readers, the lack of original manuscripts due to natural deterioration or destruction and the transmission process through numerous handwritten copies.<\/p>\n

As a follow-up, Dr. Williams asked whether modern Bibles reflect what the authors originally wrote or if the text has been changed during transmission. The answer to that question is influenced by the definition of what \u201coriginally\u201d means, he continued.<\/p>\n

Most scholars agree that the Old Testament was in its earliest form an oral tradition that was later collected in written form. He added that it appears that the text as we know it may have circulated in different forms and those variations in accounts were combined in an effort to preserve all the source material the writers had.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Old Testament is made up of a compilation of sources \u2026 then it is very difficult to talk about the original,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead of asking \u2018do we have the original,\u2019 I am going to ask a different question \u2013 does our English translation reflect the earliest compilations?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dead Sea Scrolls have provided instrumental in the effort to answer that question, Dr. Williams said. The Old Testament in most popular modern translations of the Bible is based on texts from the Masoretic Text tradition, which dates from 1000 C.E., although scholars believe the Torah (the books of the law) were written in 550 B.C. The Masoretic texts do have some issues as there are a few errors and some places were words are missing.<\/p>\n

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls provided scholars with the earliest copies of the Old Testament that have been found and have indicated some interesting things about the transmission of the scriptures. \u201cAround the time of Jesus and before Jesus, the text was very fluid and the Jews seemed to be okay with it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Dead Sea Scrolls have told us that the texts were not standardized. I would argue that there was more than one edition of every book of the Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n

An example of the fluidity discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls is the two editions of the David and Goliath story found within different scrolls of Genesis that were found. One version matches what is found in modern translations, he explained, and the other is considerably shorter and has some differences such as the height of Goliath and how he died (with David beheading the giant with his sword after striking him with the rock).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have found with the Dead Sea Scrolls is that for the ancient Jews, it was the book itself that was sacred, not a particular form of the book or certain readings in that book,\u201d Dr. Williams said. \u201cOn a practical level, the ancient Jews were perfectly okay with diversity in the texts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dead Sea Scrolls have also helped scholars understand the time frame of the standardization of the text by the ancient Jews, he continued.\u00a0 It appears that at some point around 1 C.E., that the text became standardized in comparison with scrolls dating from the second century that have now been found in other sites such as Masada and Nahal Hever.<\/p>\n

In addition to the variation in the Biblical texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls have also provided insights into the phenomenon of \u201cRewritten Scriptures\u201d among the ancient Jews. In \u201cRewritten Scriptures,\u201d a text closely reproduces a recognizable and already authoritative base text, but modifies the text by means of addition, omission, paraphrase, rearrangement or other type of change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dead Sea Scrolls have shown us that many Jews were not hesitant to change text when they passed it on to the next generation,\u201d Dr. Williams said. Some of the reasons for revising the scripture is to improve the base text by removing inconsistencies\/contradictions or by omitting questionable or objectionable elements in the story, harmonizing the texts, clarifying issues, to justify contemporary beliefs or practices that are not explicit in the scriptural text or to authorize other existing traditions which were popular but not part of the original base text. For example, what is known as the \u201cTemple Scroll\u201d is a basic rewriting of the Mosaic law, he added.<\/p>\n

The changes in the texts are across a spectrum, from variations between issues to including explanatory additions to major changes and additions that are meant to meet a unique purpose, such as what calendar should be followed in the celebration of festivals, Dr. Williams said.<\/p>\n

The concluding Theologian session will be held on Tuesday, March 8, when Dr. Williams will discuss the view of continuing revelation that was held by the authors of the scrolls and its impacts for understanding the nature of authoritative scripture. The session will also include an examination of what books held authoritative position at Qumran and the reasons for their prominence.<\/p>\n

The lecture session will begin at 10 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons. The session will conclude around 1:30 p.m., and lunch in the college\u2019s cafeteria is included. Although there is no admission fee to attend the lectures, reservations are required. For more information or to make a reservation for the series, please call 423-636-7304 or email eestes@tusculum.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The phenomenon of \u201cRewritten Bible\u201d was also explored during the third session of the annual lecture series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[91,19,6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFluidity of Jewish texts examined in third session of Theologian-in-Residence series :: Tusculum University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/parent-news\/2016\/fluidity-of-jewish-texts-examined-during-third-session-of-theologian-in-residence-lecture-series\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fluidity of Jewish texts examined in third session of 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