The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible

The character of the Vetus Latina (= L)¹ and its various forms was beyond critical control in the days of Jerome and Augustine,² did not yield to Sabatier’s gi

1. The sigla used in this article are, with some exceptions, in general conformity
with those used in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, the Brooke-McLean edition of the Sep-
tuagint, and my edition of 4QSam^c in BASOR 235 (1979) 1-25, but several sigla and abbre-
viations require specific mention. See below and on pages 234, 237-38.

M	the Masoretic text as in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, ed. P. A. H. de Boer
G	the Greek Version or the majority of Greek uncials and minuscules (for in- dividual manuscripts, cf. Brooke-McLean)
GL	early or late elements in the text of the Lucianic recension (MSS boc2e2)
GO	the text of Origen’s recension
GR	the “Palestinian” or “kaige” recension (see Barthélemy, Les devanciers d’Aquila), which revised the Old Greek toward greater conformity with M; the majority of G manuscripts in 2 Samuel 11–24 reflect this recension
OG	the Old Greek translation

I wish to thank Profs. John Wevers and Emanuel Tov, for the invitation to contribute this study; Prof. Frank Moore Cross, for the opportunity to work on the scrolls; P. Bonafatius Fischer and Drs. Frede and Thiele of the Vetus Latina Institut in Beuron, for their friendly and efficient help, for the microfilms of their collection entrusted to the Notre Dame library, and especially for making the Fischer edition of L¹¹⁵ available. I wish also to thank Scholars Press, for permission to quote extensively from my book The Qumran Text of Samuel and Josephus; the staff of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute, for the use of their microfilms; and Ms. Carolyn Cross, for her competent and elegant metamorphosis of my scribbles.

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