(quote)
But your translators are better, How?
I don't use translations, I'm Jewish. I use the Hebrew.
I have to side with
Daisies4me on her question.
If
Tumah is using a masoretic Bible, then the question stands as to why his translators/editors were/are better than any other. Why is one to assume they were more objective, why is one to assume they made fewer mistakes and/or fewer changes due to their own biases and worldviews than any other translators/editors.
1) The Hebrew Tanakh IS a translation from prior differing languages.
Obviously Hebrew was not the original language of the original stories making up the books that eventually ended up in the Tanakh. For examples, there is no evidence that Adam spoke Hebrew or that Abraham spoke hebrew, ( He would not have spoken Hebrew, having been from Ur). The Genesis record itself describes other languages and clans descending from the sons of Noah "each with it's own language" (ch 10).
Rather, the Jews came to adopt national Hebrew, and the texts were converted into national Hebrew and national Hebrew itself evolved as the matris lectiones were invented and vowels were adopted in later centuries. All languages evolve. While it is a Jewish dogma that Hebrew was the language of Adam, I don’t know of any actual linguists who would adopt this claim based on significant objective data.
2) In Addition to the Hebrew Old Testament being a translation from earlier languages, there were multiple versions of the Old Testament.
For example, in 2 Kings chapter 22, when Hilkiah finds the “
book of the law in the house of the LORD.” (kjv) and he delivers this Book to Josiah who then (in Chapter 23) reads to the inhabitants of Jerusalem “
all the words of the book of the covenants” .
However, the Jerusalem Talmud itself tells us that Hilkiah actually found THREE pentateuchs in the temple (codices Meon, Zaatute and Hi). The three texts disagreed in their readings and so the priests used a rule of majority and produced a fourth version based on the two that agreed against the version that did not agree. (the new version is presumably, the one Josiah read publicly)
Thus, the Jewish texts were already corrupted in certain ways by this early time period. Whiston tells us Josephus used yet another different version of the Torah for his histories (This torah was given to him by vespasian him from the spoils of the Jerusalem temple). These very simple histories describe at least five versions of the Pentateuch (there were many more) at early periods and corruptions in each version.
3) Modern Rabbinic Judaism is not the same religion as ancient Judaism.
Jews, like Christians, often like to assume their religion is unchanged. I think while it gives them a psychological reassurance to tell themselves this, in reality, modern Judaism and ancient Judaism are different religions with different characteristics despite having the same name. (one can even be an athiest nowadays and still be "Jewish")
I do not think modern Judaic movements in their various forms have much advantage over the earlier Judeo-Christian movement in their interpretations and worldviews of the Gospel.
In any case, I hope your journeys are good
Clear
ειειακσιω
