Can You Trust the Hebrew Bible? Scribes & the Old Testament - Part 1

[@AlephwithBeth]

Para los que hablan español, ya hemos creado este curso completo para ustedes en nuestro canal en español. Aquí tienen la lista de reproducción: kzbin.info/aero/PL1ZLvbfrZcbYuG_HUMZ6EG_quu6zgZNm1

[@theoglossa]

Thank you. I'll make it available on my site. Theoglossa.

[@bemejemerya]

This is great! Looking forward to part 2. I was hooked on the exercise that you did with the children! I am always racking my brain for innovative ways to familiarize the children I teach with Biblical Hebrew. If you have any tips and suggestions to help young children, I’d be grateful for any pointers. I am blown away by children’s ability to grasp the stories in a simple and straightforward manner, which confirms to me that Scripture is uncluttered by the theologies adult readers bring with them. I have been deeply influenced by the Bible as Literature podcast (from the Ephesus Network) in my study and I apply the same methods of learning Biblical Hebrew, context, word study etc with the children. As a speaker of two Semitic languages, this approach has revealed what I had already inherited. I’m pushing the children to use their Semitic language inheritance to speed up their knowledge of Biblical Hebrew. I know how much time and preparation it takes to produce lessons. I can’t thank you and Beth for the gift of learning you have given us. May God bless your labor and keep your family بسلم/በሰላም።

[@brianshank9864]

Great start. I'm looking forward to the next one already! 🙂

[@jacobmierendorff1833]

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS SERIES! Thanks guys :)

[@premaraj]

What a superb presentation, concise and clear and yet authoritative as well. Praise God for you and the work you do, enriching all of us in understanding how fortunate we are for the meticulous hard work of ancient believers and scribes, labouring so that we can be recipients of the Word of God in the 21st Century! Really Looking forward to your next Video.

[@santiagodelpilar6701]

Short answer: Yes.

[@jeshus_deus_est]

My Grundma is ging to die in the net half year. Please pray for her body and soul

[@betawithbrett7068]

Thank you for this Andrew and Beth, you three (Naomi too) are the bomb-diggidy. Let me say something about the FIRST translation of the Hebrew scriptures that Andrew laid out around the 3 minute point with a bit more precision. According to a Greek Letter allegedly written by a man names Aristeas around 200 BC, Alexander the Great having conquered the ancient world that is modern day southern Europe and Russia, the Mediterranean, modern day Middle East, western parts of Asia, and North Africa, died after his 12 year military campaign, curiously, presumably due to a mosquito bite (maybe Malaria) and then his kingdom was distributed to his four (4) generals. One of these was General Ptolemy becoming King over modern day Egypt, and presiding over the capitol city that had been named Alexandria by Alexander the Great when he conquered it. There in Alexandria, King Ptolemy II, son of the general and Ptolemy I, became enamored with the idea of building the world's biggest and first HUGE Library that would become widely known as the LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA. Now his objective was to have all of his conquered peoples'' wisdom literature translated into the lingua franca, which was Ancient Greek. So for the Jews, Ptolemy Philadelphus II sent messengers to Jerusalem to negotiate this deal. What the Jews decided to do, in an effort to gain favor and get some Jewish brethern-prisoners released, was to send not just one scribe who knew both Hebrew and Greek, but six (6) for each of the twelve (12) tribes, so a total of 72 translators. When they arrived, King Ptolemy II showed them amazing hospitality and a voluptuous welcome, housing them on the island off the shoreline of Alexandria called PHAROS. These 72 translators were put in their individual little condos on the island having all things provided, so they could, in seclusion, work on the Greek translation of the Torah (first 5 books) of the Hebrew Bible. This story is one that a Greek reading class that I had in Israel while there studying for 2 years, we read much of it in Ancient Greek. I find it intriguiing. Although most Greco-Roman period scholars perceive this story to be fiction, I tend to believe it. Why? Well being a big fan of Christian writings in Greek from around 80 AD to about 300, I see a few around 150 AD to 250 talking about this as if it really happened. Moreover, one around 150 AD named Justin Martyr said that the island of Pharos in his day was still celebrating the completion of the translation that would later become known as the Septuagint which means seventy (70) in Latin since there were 72 translators (round number). So if they were still celebrating it in Justin's day, that means the annual celebration proved it really happened. That does not mean the letter of Aristeas is a 100% accurate account though. The thing that that scholars find particularly difficult to believe is that after about one (1) year, all scribes finished their translation work and since Ptolemy had them separated so as to prevent collusion to skew the translation, they brought them together to compare, and found that they all matched, and took that as a sign from God of an inspired translation. In the writings of Justin Martyr (150 AD), Tertullian (200 AD) and Origen (230 to 250 AD), we see them point to this account, recounting many events that corroborate the Letter of Aristeas. It is generally accepted that this Septuagint translation was just the first 5 books, since in Greek the word NOMOS meaning Law is how they referred to it. I generally accept that and just think somehow the rest of the Hebrew bible got translated which included what would become known as the Apocryphal books too, in the next century or so, prior to the birth of Jesus. My only hesitation to wondering if the NOMOS (Law) also included the other books. Jesus refers to a Psalm being in the Law (Nomos) in the NT when engaging with the Jews "it is written in your Law" and then Jesus quotes the Psalm. So manybe it was not a precise reference of Mosaic Law, but rather the Greek knowing they did have a religion rooted in their Law. You decide.

[@markreynolds6715]

I find it amazing that people who call themselves believers in the Creator of all creation, including mankind, can't believe that God caused 72 learned believers to have identical translations. I think they did. And the fact that Jesus and the apostles and early church used it and quoted it confirms it for me. The only other possibility I see is that the Hebrew Bible of Jesus day was the same Hebrew Bible that they used to translate to Greek. Which no one seems to consider. I mean obviously there are too many differences between the LXX Greek Septuagint and the masorectic text. The dates of births and deaths in Genesis. Psalm 51. David and Goliath. Especially if you use the oldest Greek texts. Most obviously the prophesies that Jesus fulfilled proving He's Messiah. The only conclusion I can come to is the masorectic text was purposely changed because so many Jews were coming to believe in Jesus/Yeshua after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The LXX lines up with history, archeology, dead sea scrolls, Josephus, carbon dating, everything. The dates were changed to say Shem is Melchizedek instead of Jesus. And for that to be true Shem had to live long enough to watch his children and their children die before his eyes, for I think it was 5 generations, which is a curse and not a blessing. Shem lived and died according to the dates in the LXX Greek Septuagint. And confirmed by other sources including Josephus and I think the Samaritan scripture. Let's see the Jews who condemned Jesus for crucification and said let His blood be on us and our children did have the gall to change the Holy scriptures to keep their power and position. Yep. Or someone could explain to me why else they were homeless for almost 1900 years. What was their crime then but this.

[@betawithbrett7068]

@@markreynolds6715 good points. Many early christians like Justin Martyr in Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (CH 70 to 72) he talks about how the Jewish leaders had expelled some books that Catholics would later label as Apocryphal and that these Jewish leaders changed some of the prophecies about the Messiah to discourage Jewish converts to Christianity, i.e. that Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of prophecy. Tertullian did similar in his discourse with the Jews. Origen wrote the Hexapla in order to prove to the Jews that the LXX was more authentic. This was a common belief in the 100s and 200s AD. Today scholars act like those differences between the LXX and Hebrew Masoretic text, that the Hebrew is more authentic. Many times the Dead Sea scrolls corroborate the LXX to be more accurate. I could say more, but will stop here.

[@markreynolds6715]

@@betawithbrett7068 thanks, I think that our or should I say people's ego and pride is involved keeping them from seeing the truth. I mean when I realized that the Bible translations I'd been reading for the last 40 years were based on a lie, well my head was spinning whenever I thought about it. Plus the fact that I then needed to repent for reading, believing, and submitting to a demonically inspired translation, well, lol, I can see why they refuse to see the documented common sense argument to eat crow. And to be public about it. I'm completely sure there is a spiritual blindness because of their pride reinforcing this behavior. I am anything but an expert on this, but I have read enough experts who document this clearly. I now read the 2001 LXX Greek Septuagint Bible online. Not sure who publishes a good LXX Greek Septuagint Bible in book form. Plus another case of the infallible Pope choosing the masorectic text over the LXX Greek Septuagint.

[@miketisdell5138]

Great Job. FYI - I have a very similar TC exercise that I use. I actually used it last week with a youth group at church.

[@KaitlynBurnellMath]

Some of this might be addressed in following episodes, but from what I understand the dead sea scrolls are a bit of a mess--stuff like they seemed to be treating a lot of stuff as scripture that is not in the Hebrew bible. And they had multiple versions of some biblical books with differences from each other that they treated equally.

[@danielcase6206]

Excellent presentation, clear and no rabbit trails. Thank you!

[@elguandodepadua6835]

Cuál es la traducción de " Aleph with Beth" gracias

[@paulyost3283]

Wow! Thanks for your devoted work! BTW, it is noteworthy that we called them "variants" rather than 'differences' since the latter infers one is wrong. I am glad you included the Vulgate, and I am wondering about the veracity of the work done by the Masoretes. Some folks are implying that they purposely "sabotaged" יהוה by placing the pointings from Adonai under the consonants. As you pointed out (no pun intended), they were looking to preserve the pronunciation of words for future generations accurately. Would they purposely sabotage this word and references to the Messiah? Just curious. Thank you!

[@Peter-md9mf]

This is so much needed. Thanks so much for your service and ministry✝

[@joyeverytime9229]

Sangat bagus dan menarik Terima kasih.

[@jyotsnanath695]

TQ very much Andrew for your hard work and sincere effort behind your excellent presentation which is quite impressive and informative. Very interested in this topic that you started and would be looking forward for your next release and more hidden information. God bless.

[@JeffreyFung-f5o]

Are you guys going to do something similar for the New Testament?

[@AlephwithBeth]

No, check out the description of the video for a free course that's been done by Wallace.

[@windsurfersp]

@@AlephwithBeth Its a fantastic fantastic course!

[@adrianblake8876]

You forgot one reason for textual variants to exist: deliberate alteration. We know such deliberate alterations existed, but here I'll give (a theoretical) one that seems insignificant, but also very crucial. "וַיִּמָּלֵא יְשׁוּעַ חֵמָה עַל הָאִישׁ" לְעֻמַּת "וַיִּמָּלֵא יְשׁוּעַ חֶמְלָה עַל הָאִישׁ"... Notice how one letter difference changes the entire point of the text. Was Jesus angry, as the first variant implies, or compassionate, as the latter one states!?

[@helenshaw460]

Thank you guys so much for doing this awesome work!

[@carolinequinton5980]

Thank you so much Andrew! We can't wait for the next ones :-)

[@carolinequinton5980]

My husband had just bought himself a Septuagint this week so I forwarded to him - thank you!

[@ricetanzania4148]

6:53 funny: It seems to me Arabic that is written here. But I know: Maimonides/Rambam wrote in Arabic.

[@67MercuryXR7]

Excellent! The hidden things belong to God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children. The question is, are we truly taking to heart the things that God HAS revealed? I’m so grateful for the great privilege of owning a copy of God’s Word!

[@matthew4642]

Our knowledge of God is the knowledge of faith. It is finite and limited, but true!

[@sarahhannahv]

thanks so much for sharing this Avram. It was very informative and very well presented. Looking forward to the whole series. Mazel Tov again on the birth of your son.

[@lierox9]

This is really well done.

[@Heinbarnavi]

more of this please! btw your new subs👍

[@richardhayward5814]

Excellent, and something the like of which has been needed for some time. And you two are the right persons to be doing it. I'm looking forward to the next part.

[@betawithbrett7068]

04:10 correction: The Romans defeated the Greeks in a series of battles plundering the Greek empire bringing it to its knees in the 1st century BC. The language of Rome was Latin but Greek was what everyone in the former Greek empire spoke, hence the Greek NT. Synagogue were using the Greek Septuagint for the most part. It took centuries for Latin to spread and Greek to diminish. In the 300s AD (4th century) Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity and stopped the killings. By the late 4th century, there was a Pope, and in the early 5th century, Pope Damasus knew churches had their own Latin bibles, and many had Greek. He want a single universal Latin Bible in the Roman empire, so Pope Damasus had his secretary, Jerome, create a universal "Latin Vulgate" which the Pope thought Jerome would translate the Greek Septuagint into Latin; but that's not what happened. Jerome spent a few years in Bethlehem with the Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah, and they convinced Jerome that their Hebrew was more accurate than the Greek. That's how Christians in the West (only) began relying on the Hebrew OT bible rather than the Greek Septuagint OT.

[@briankelly5828]

"gonna" is the forth mistake (see what I did?) in the text message.

[@FaithfulEncourager]

where can I buy a hebrew bible?

[@AlephwithBeth]

Check out freehebrew.online/resources/ and click on "Print"

[@pamjohnson9028]

Years ago I was asked by an author, to translate his book on Jewish Roots from English to Spanish. What I discovered, as I read Hebrew meanings, I realized that the original language contains immense value in actually getting to us a clearer more thorough understanding of YHVH's Word. I also have observed that the new, popular versions are losing much of Father's awesome WORD, they change, add and delete at will, to make easy readers more at ease!

[@kerrytusc]

Thanks. I used this for my teenager’s homeschool! This would be good curriculum.

[@LuisGonzalez-df8ix]

Que buen trabajo!! Se agradece ❤

[@jimmetcalf6408]

Wonderful presentation of your point of view. However, it is not the only point of view held by people who consider the Bible to be in some sense the word of God. Some questions: Who is this transcendental god? How can you verify that god spoke? What about internal inconsistencies in the stories? And there are so many more. But we struggle with it and think the struggle is worthwhile. For some, perhaps oddly, that is why this book, or parts of it, are god’s word.

[@briankelly5828]

Many thanks for doing this - a good response to the kind of issues that Bart Ehrman raises (although he focuses on the NT).

[@sjsouzas]

I just can say thank you for this. God bless you all.

[@patrickcourtney796]

Can you trust the God of the Hebrew Bible ? ………..YES

[@820krx7]

On the differences, i heard a long time ago, if we had the autographs of paul, for example, wars would he fought over them or they'd be hidden away. Which, maybe they are. Perfect autographs would also make translations less appealing to teachers & pastors. The NIV, ESV, CSB, etc all had teams study and select from the hundreds and thousands of mss, making the english a compilation, *just like* my THGNT is a compilation of the best of TR manuscripts. Or my UBS GNT is of CT manuscripts. If my Greek New testament was 100% the words of the ORIGINAL authors, i would read them over english always. And thats a BIG problem! See i loved reading in greek for several years and have been studying hebrew with Beth & co, to do same for the hebrew testament. But 3 months ago i bought a CSB study bible in english and ive read 25%, and have had a huge revival! I read my greek daily. But the thing is, nothing beats the readers native tongue! It kills me to admit that, but my spiritual status confirms. 3 months ago my "worship time." Was 2 10 min prayers, but 2+hrs a day spent on ancient language study. Now its flipped. If we had autographs, then the hebrew and greek become literal idols. We would worship them. What we have is perfect - nothing that makes theological doubt (except handling snakes in mark), but enough tiny errors to ensure no one manuscript is enshrined as perfect or made an idol

[@betawithbrett7068]

📜 ✍️ אנוכי אוהב ❤️את הכתובים 📜 הקודשים

[@wpuymac]

Awesome job.

[@ZephrumEllison]

The ARE very significant doctrinal issues amongst all the scriptures. HOWEVER academics do not understand this to necessarily mean that we are wrong or that the significance of the text and of doctrine isn’t undeniably important.

[@frederickanderson1860]

A complete scroll of Isaiah was found and very little differences even with our modern bibles

[@comunidadpiedrasvivasdetzi5255]

En Español?

[@AlephwithBeth]

Para los hispanohablantes, hicimos esta serie directamente en español hace años. Solo es cuestión de buscar en nuestro canal que se llama Aleph with Beth Gramática en español y encontrarán una lista de reproducción sobre el texto de la Biblia hebrea.

[@ricetanzania4148]

Read, think, read another source, learn more, all about Where we come from, where we are going and what to do in between.

[@CallsignMunch]

Who said Christianity is anti intellectual?

[@rinaamaya7382]

Thanks for this wonderful information God bless you todah rabah

[@pinoccio25]

A good reminder of how the Hebrew scriptures ended up in our hands 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@cleitondecarvalho431]

it took us a lot of time to have a bible as free from mistakes as possible, but thanks to the biblical archeology we could fix a lot of mistranslated passages, specially in the greek holy scriptures.

[@donlee3864]

Love it ❤

[@nannimanfrin8420]

Septuagint was first published under that name by the heretic Origen from around 250 AD based on a known forgery, the letter of Aristeas. Any translation of the Tanakh before Christ would've been illegal.

[@zakhrist9226]

תודה רבה מבלורוס

[@darcigoulart]

Não esperava assistir vídeos em inglês no curso de hebraico.

[@Bolaway]

Provavelmente porque a Bethany está descansando depois do parto. Vídeos assim são bons para dar contexto ao aprendizado

[@darcigoulart]

​@@Bolaway-> Sim

[@theoglossa]

Thank you.

[@frederickanderson1860]

The prophecies concerning the Messiah are more revelent. Moses 5 scrolls.

[@YHWHsavesDotCom]

👏👏👏

[@graxav]

LXX cannot be removed from the 'myth' that surrounds it - 72 scholars in 72 separate rooms producing identical Greek manuscripts, is simply false. That pretext and the removal of יהוה and also, by implication, the meaning of every Hebrew name and many other loses in translation; makes it inferior at best and misleading at worst. The advent of Greek 'scriptures' and the calling of them divinely inspired - has given rise to the entire realm of a Greek/Roman Replacement Theology - HaMal'chut Elohim cannot be superseded or replaced - The Hebrew scriptures exist because it is impossible to remove them - 'not a jot or tittle will pass away' - they need no authentication from other sources.

[@GustavoGarcia-jd2nk]

Great

[@dreport5621]

You can trust the Hebrew bible more than the catholic-pagan influenced “Christian” bibles😂

[@820krx7]

I always trust the LXX over masoretic. Even jeromes vulgate (which, he had access to very old hebrew texts & even talked to rabbis older than the masoretic!) supports the LXX (over masoretic) as do DSS fragments in either language. Although even then, there arent really any differences that affect theology in a big way. I suppose lions are at my hands & feet vs they pierce my hands and feet. But thats the only big thing off the top of my head. Oh, the virgin will be with child, thats a biggie. 😅

[@morlewen7218]

I would add Deut 32, Gen 5 and Gen 11