Urtext (biblical studies)

[StephenGoranson]

Admittedly, the quality of Wikipedia entries varies considerably. Yet it may occasionially be handy for discussion purposes.
I have not edited this entry. As of now it reads:

"In biblical studies, the Urtext is the theorized original, uniform text of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), preceding both the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masoretic Text (MT). Since the 19th century there has been much scholarly work to regain this Urtext. The theory that there was an Urtext was advocated by Paul de Lagarde. Today it is disputed that there ever was such a uniform text.[1][2]....
....
[1] Geoffrey W. Bromiley et al.: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Grand Rapids, 1988, volume 4, page 405.
[2] Isaac Leo Seeligmann, Robert Hanhart, Hermann Spieckermann: The Septuagint Version of Isaiah and Cognate Studies, Tübingen 2004, pages 33-34."

[StephenGoranson]

Here is one current view, delivered this month, August, 2022, on the Pentateuch as a "composite text," written over centuries. I was not in Zürich to hear the presentation, so am unable to report on the full talk. Of course, I do not present this as if it is an authoritative final word. But as an example of this viewpoint.

Konrad Schmid (Zürich)
The Composition of the Pentateuch as a Historical
and a Hermeneutical Problem

The Pentateuch dates back to the first millennium BCE, comprising texts
that were written down mainly between the 9th and the 4th century BCE. To
reconstruct its literary genesis is a task that has occupied biblical scholarship
for more than 250 years. Despite some major divergences, certain
contours of its composition have taken shape in the field of Pentateuchal
research. However, the question of how a composite text such as the Pentateuch
can be read and understood has been less in the focus of scholarship....
....

https://www.iosot2022.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:37 ... ch2022.pdf