0

Having come across some claims, and some websites, there seems to be a disagreement between the Masoretic and Septuagint scrolls/texts and that one is more or less reliable than the other.

Are there any outside sources that can attest to these claims, and which one (if not both) is truly reliable?

Here are some examples I found in this website of the "differences":

(It seems that this specific website holds the view that the Septuagint is accurate and was "modified" by Rabbis to "debunk" the christian claims)

Exodus 1: The number 75 replaced by 70

Genesis 10:24 some generations removed.

Deuteronomy 32:8 “Angels Of Elohim” replaced with “children of Israel.”

Jeremiah 10 verses 6 and 7 have been added in the Masoretic.

Psalm 96:10 “Say among the nations, YHWH reigns from the wood” omitted.

Isaiah 19:18 “city of righteousness” changed to the “city of the sun” or in some versions “the city of destruction.”

Majobri
  • 75
  • 4
  • Actually the Masoretes did that job. Those times many slightly different manuscripts were available, and they meticulously selected the version based on our tradition. – Kazi bácsi Jul 24 '20 at 07:41
  • 1
    In order to have an outside source credibly testifying for either side it would have to be older and more reliable than both sides. You are looking for something impossible. – Schmerel Jul 24 '20 at 13:55
  • Note that the original Septuagint was only the Torah. The Navi was much later and is basically Christian. As far as I remember, the Septuagint that we have nowadays even for the Torah is not the original translation of the seventy. – sabbahillel Jul 24 '20 at 14:06

1 Answers1

2

Both textual traditions (along with the Samaritan Pentateuch, which has similarities with each) predate Christianity by centuries. Basically, texts, whether religious, or otherwise, present a rainbow-like distribution in terms of variation.

To illustrate this by way of a basic example, for the purpose of clarification:

Personally, I would shy away from conspiracy theories.