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Textual Criticism of the Old Testament

  • Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
  • Abbr : KJOTS
  • 2025, 31(2), pp.281~322
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology

Kim, Jong-Hoon 1

1부산장신대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study explores the field of textual criticism of the Old Testament, emphasizing its significance in reconstructing the earliest attainable form of the biblical text based on extant manuscript evidence. The Old Testament, unlike modern literary texts, has undergone centuries of transmission, during which various textual variants (or "readings") emerged. These variants, though often minor and not doctrinally significant, can have considerable implications for interpretation and exegesis. The paper first distinguishes textual criticism from related disciplines such as literary criticism, underscoring that textual criticism focuses specifically on the transmission history and physical form of the text, rather than its compositional stages. The methodological foundation of textual criticism lies in the comparative analysis of textual witnesses, which include the Masoretic Text (MT), the Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran Biblical Texts), the Septuagint (LXX), the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), and other ancient versions such as the Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate. Each of these witnesses contributes uniquely to understanding the history of the text. For instance, the Qumran Scrolls have confirmed the remarkable consistency of the Hebrew textual tradition over a millennium, while also exposing the textual diversity of the Second Temple period. The Septuagint, though a translation, often preserves Hebrew source texts older than the MT, and must be analyzed carefully for translation-related distortions. The Samaritan Pentateuch, while ideologically motivated in some readings, sometimes reflects ancient Hebrew forms also found in Qumran texts. The paper also categorizes textual variants into unintentional scribal errors (e.g., haplography, dittography, graphic confusion) and intentional modifications (e.g., theological censorship, grammatical correction, harmonization), providing multiple case studies. These principles help assess the plausibility of each reading and guide scholars in reconstructing the likely original. Ultimately, textual criticism enhances biblical scholarship by providing a reliable base text for interpretation, translation, and theology. While it acknowledges the fluidity of the text in antiquity, it also affirms the high degree of textual stability within the Hebrew tradition. As manuscript discoveries and critical editions continue to evolve, textual criticism remains an indispensable foundation for sound exegesis and academic engagement with the Old Testament.

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