Paleo-Hebrew in the History of DuTillet Hebrew Matthew
Paleo-Hebrew in the History of DuTillet Hebrew Matthew
By
James Scott Trimm
I have discovered internal evidence in the Hebrew of the DuTillet Hebrew manuscript of Matthew, that one of the scribes in the history of its transmission also knew and used Paleo-Hebrew. (Paleo Hebrew is a more ancient Script of Hebrew, the block Hebrew letters used now only began to be used to write Hebrew in the days of Ezra (thus it is called Ezra Script).
This evidence is found in the text of Matthew 24:34:
"But when the P'rushim heard that He had silenced the Tz'dukim, they took counsel together.(נוסדו)"
(Matt. 22:34 Du Tillet/Munster)
"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. (נועדו)"
(Matt. 22:34 underlying Hebrew of the Greek)
"But when the P'rushim saw that the Tz'dukim had no answer, they joined his servants. (עיבדו התחברו)"
(Matt. 22:34 Shem Tob)
Shem Tob's reading is עיבדו (his servants) clearly a scribal error for the underlying Greek נועדו (they were gathered together) with the phrase "they joined" probably added by a later scribe seeking to correct what he perceived as a missing word.
The really interesting thing here is the misreading between the Greek and DuTillet/Munster.
In that misreading an ע AYIN and a ס SAMEK are confused.
At first I thought the Greek reflected the original Hebrew reading since on the surface it best explained the readings of both DuTillet/Munster and ShemTob. However one is left with the question: "How could these letters be confused?" ע AYIN and ס SAMEK do not look much alike.
However a paleo-Hebrew AYIN (o) looks just like a block-Hebrew SAMEK (ס). This error was most likely made by a scribe working with block-Hebrew but who was also familiar with paleo-Hebrew script. Such a scribe could have read a ס SAMEK and written an ע AYIN or less likely read an ע AYIN and written a ס SAMEK.
In either case we are looking at a scribe somewhere in the history of the textual transmition who knew both scripts. Such a scribe would have to have lived no later than the Bar Kokhba era (the last era in which PaleoHebrew was used). Regardless of which reading is original, the error itslef would seem to reach back to the first or second centuries C.E.!
By
James Scott Trimm
I have discovered internal evidence in the Hebrew of the DuTillet Hebrew manuscript of Matthew, that one of the scribes in the history of its transmission also knew and used Paleo-Hebrew. (Paleo Hebrew is a more ancient Script of Hebrew, the block Hebrew letters used now only began to be used to write Hebrew in the days of Ezra (thus it is called Ezra Script).
This evidence is found in the text of Matthew 24:34:
"But when the P'rushim heard that He had silenced the Tz'dukim, they took counsel together.(נוסדו)"
(Matt. 22:34 Du Tillet/Munster)
"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. (נועדו)"
(Matt. 22:34 underlying Hebrew of the Greek)
"But when the P'rushim saw that the Tz'dukim had no answer, they joined his servants. (עיבדו התחברו)"
(Matt. 22:34 Shem Tob)
Shem Tob's reading is עיבדו (his servants) clearly a scribal error for the underlying Greek נועדו (they were gathered together) with the phrase "they joined" probably added by a later scribe seeking to correct what he perceived as a missing word.
The really interesting thing here is the misreading between the Greek and DuTillet/Munster.
In that misreading an ע AYIN and a ס SAMEK are confused.
At first I thought the Greek reflected the original Hebrew reading since on the surface it best explained the readings of both DuTillet/Munster and ShemTob. However one is left with the question: "How could these letters be confused?" ע AYIN and ס SAMEK do not look much alike.
However a paleo-Hebrew AYIN (o) looks just like a block-Hebrew SAMEK (ס). This error was most likely made by a scribe working with block-Hebrew but who was also familiar with paleo-Hebrew script. Such a scribe could have read a ס SAMEK and written an ע AYIN or less likely read an ע AYIN and written a ס SAMEK.
In either case we are looking at a scribe somewhere in the history of the textual transmition who knew both scripts. Such a scribe would have to have lived no later than the Bar Kokhba era (the last era in which PaleoHebrew was used). Regardless of which reading is original, the error itslef would seem to reach back to the first or second centuries C.E.!
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