Prof. Dr. Emanuel Tov

Fellow December 2010 bis Juli 2011
Ph.D, Professor em., Department of Bible, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Born 1941 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Studied Biblical Studies and Classics in Jerusalem, Harvard and Oxford

Research Project:
Revision of my Handbook Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible

The area of the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible has changed much in the last two decennia since I wrote the first edition of my handbook, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (first edition 1992, second edition 2006; Hebrew edition 1989; German edition 1999, Russian edition 2001). Since the second edition differed little from the first, I now have to cover twenty years of research while at the same time integrating my own new insights into the revised edition. The publication of the Biblical Dead Sea scrolls requires an updating of views on specific biblical books, on the textual variety in the last centuries BCE, and on the realia of writing scrolls in that period. At the same time, all sub-areas in textual criticism have been significantly developed over the last two decades. A better understanding of the most important witnesses, the Masoretic Text, the Greek Septuagint, and the Samaritan version of the Hebrew Pentateuch requires us to change major aspects of our handbook. There is a growing interest in the early textual versions of the Bible among exegetes, theologians, and historians, since most scholars realize that the literary study of the Bible cannot be limited to its central Hebrew (Masoretic) version.
During my research stay at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, I plan to conduct research on several fundamental problems related to the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible: the original text(s) of the Hebrew Bible, possible stabilization of the Hebrew text in the first century CE, the pre-Samaritan texts, theological elements in the textual transmission, the text of the Bible in Qumran, the text-critical value of the LXX in the different Old Testament books, and a didactic approach towards teaching textual criticism. I intend to write papers on several of these areas and to include the results of my research in the revised handbook. I also intend to consult the data stored in the Göttingen lexicon project of Qumran texts directed by Prof. Dr. R. Kratz as well as the data collected by the Göttingen Septuaginta project.

Selected Publications:

Tov, E. 2008. Hebrew Bible, Greek Bible, and Qumran: Collected Essays. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 121).

Tov, E. 2006. The Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library. Brigham Young University, Revised Edition, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library of E.J. Brill Publishers. Leiden: Brill.

Tov, E. and D.W. Parry. 2005–2005. The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader vols 1–6. Leiden/ Boston: Brill.

Tov, E. 2004. Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert. Leiden/Boston: Brill (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, 54).

Tov, E. 2001. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 2d rev. ed. Minneapolis and Assen: Fortress Press/Royal Van Gorcum. Hebrew version, 1989; German version, 1999; Russian version, 2001.

Tov, E. 1999. The Greek and Hebrew Bible: Collected Essays on the Septuagint. Leiden/Boston/Cologne: Brill (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 72).