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Re: "Josephus" inkwells?
Jack & all,
I don't think anyone is really suggesting the Joe we know penned the DSS.
As I survey the responses to my question about the grammar and spelling in
Isaiah, however, I see it has not been seriously addressed yet.
The lack of a real answer has proved an immense road block for me, I know
that.
Neil Altman, a writer and scholar in his own right whose works may be familiar
to some in this group may know, threw me the Josephus passage from Cross. It
seemed to confirm what I had read and been told concerning the care that Jewish
scribes took in copying scripture in the first century and before, and it raised
more questions about whose hands actually did the work. Were they literate
Jewish scribes? Or non-Jewish copyists?
It's really hard to believe that diligent scholars of the time created Isaiah.
Imagine finding what appeared what appeared to be, say, one of the first copies
of the Declaration of Independence (apologies to UK readers) that, on close
inspection, turned out to be chocked full of the kind of mistakes that no 4th
year elementary schooler would make.
And imagine scholars hundreds of years later discussing the meaning of the
words and sentences at great length while ignoring the obvious questions about
the document itself and whether Tom Jefferson really wrote it. (How could he if
his ink well was dry?? <g>)
>> Your point on the Isaiah scroll is well taken, David, but even more
pregnant
is the issue of it's age (125-100 BCE). <<
Ah, a veritable jar of worms ... or snakes. A dangerous place for groping
hands.
David Crowder
El Paso