Singular Readings in 4QSamuela and the Question of Rewritten Scripture

Abstract

Abstract 4QSama contains 79 readings, sufficiently present on the leather to ensure validity, that are missing from all of the other textual witnesses (Masoretic Text, Septuagint [Old Greek, Kaige, Lucianic, Hexaplaric], Old Latin, Targum, Peshitta, Vulgate) employed for comparison in the DJD 17 publication. This study sorts these readings into five categories (Minor Grammatical Differences; Probable Scribal Changes; Agreement with Another Passage/Source; Too Unclear for Classification; and Putative Primitive Readings) and analyzes them for signs of tendentiousness and/or Rewritten Scripture. The conclusion of this study finds no evidence for either tendentiousness or Rewritten Scripture in the singular readings of 4QSama.