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The Septuagint's version of Jeremiah is one eighth shorter than the Masoretic Text's version. In the Dead Sea Scrolls is evidence of both versions.

Did any ancient Jewish writers (such as in the Mishnah, Talmud or Midrash) address the origin of the different source texts or offer an explanation for them?

curiousdannii
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    Good question! Reading the book as it is in the Masoretic text, it's pretty obvious that the book was assembled and edited in a bunch of layers, at different times, so it makes sense that there were AT LEAST a couple of different ancient versions. For example, the last chapter was obviously added on by an editor, unless Jeremiah wrote the end of II Kings. A lot of the oracles that were dated according to kings' reigns are out of order - for example, Chapters 25-27 come before Chapter 21, and Chapter's 35 & 36 aren't in the right place, either... – Gary Nov 01 '14 at 14:53
  • ...I'm not sure of the source--but I think it was a recent scholarly conjecture-- that the two versions were from before and after the events of Chapter 36, with the key indicator being 36:32 "Then Jeremiah took ANOTHER roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe....who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and THERE WERE ADDED BESIDES UNTO THEM MANY LIKE WORDS."(emphasis mine) That looks to me like evidence of editing long before even Jeremiah's parts of the book were even completed. – Gary Nov 01 '14 at 15:00
  • Is a particular section missing? Jeremiah is made up of different pieces. – Double AA Nov 01 '14 at 23:14
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    @Gary I've also heard it suggested that the two versions originate from the scrolls Baruch and Seraiah took in different directions. – curiousdannii Nov 01 '14 at 23:19
  • @DoubleAA I'm not familiar with the Septuagint's version, all I know is that this is probably the biggest textual difference in the Tanakh. – curiousdannii Nov 01 '14 at 23:20
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    @DoubleAA - I found this comparison: http://ccel.org/bible/brenton/Jeremiah/appendix.html of the verse order differences - the "major" missing verses are listed at the very bottom of the page.. – Gary Nov 02 '14 at 02:22
  • First of all, the LXX isn't considered Canonical by any means. See: Is there still a mesorah on how to write the Torah in greek?

    Secondly, AFAIK the sect that produced the DSS was not the Perushim, and the scrolls were likely not known to anyone after the churban Beis Sheini era until whenever they were discovered in the 20th century.

    Ergo, I highly doubt any of the post Bar-Kochba sages ever discussed these issues.

     – warz3 Apr 02 '15 at 17:05
  • @warz3 Note that the question asked about earlier writers (not Rishonim) who did have access to these texts or variants thereof. Also I don't know what is irrelevant here. – Double AA Apr 02 '15 at 17:06
  • @DoubleAA same difference, updated. Also, the Rishonim probably did have access to these variant texts where the Tannas probably didnt, as evident from the words of the Rambam in the above linked question. I changed my wording a bit, what I originally mean was it isnt commonplace in Chazal to start belaboring about foreign beliefs/halachot. Exceptions tend to be situations that lend a reasoning to various mitzvot (i.e. cli cheres for the red heifer etc.) – warz3 Apr 02 '15 at 17:08
  • @DoubleAA With regards to the DSS, AFAIK they were unknown to the Tannaim post-Bar Kokhba – warz3 Apr 02 '15 at 17:14
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    @warz3 (last comment) your claim seems highly unlikely. there were other people running around with variants too (samaritans, tzadokim), even if the Qumran sect was dead already. just because nowadays we pretend our tanakhs are all the same doesn't mean people were always so naïve. – Double AA Apr 02 '15 at 17:16
  • @DoubleAA Over there based on the logic that since it's never been mentioned, it hasn't been discussed, which leads me to conjecture that they didn't know. Furthermore, where do you see that the Tzadokim had a variant text? – warz3 Apr 02 '15 at 17:25

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