Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

Rabbi Meir, a second century sage and scribe, who is often quoted in rabbinic literature, reportedly knew some variant readings of Hebrew scriptures, including Genesis.
The Severus Scroll reportedly included variant readings, also.
For more details, wikipedia on the latter is brief; more extensive is Jonathan P. Siegel, The Severus Scroll and 1QIs-a̳ (SBL, 1975).
These variants differ from the Masoretic Text.
If these reports are accurate, then even in the second century CE there were differing Hebrew Bible mss.
Of course, Qumran Bible mss include many differences from MT, and, as well, include some proto-MT texts.
This suggests (to me) that there was no fully-agreed-upon Torah text until medieval times.
If I may propose it here, such may be one of the reasons to question the proposal that the Torah was written down, by a selected delegation, first in Alexandria the 270s BCE.
Another reason may be that Hebrew is an ancient written language, and ancient national literature and traditions would be recorded by scribes without need of a foreign invitation.

That is very interesting. Meir formerly Mayesha (Savior). Interesting cat. "Father" of ben Abuyah. The two of them the road that leads to something interesting ... and forbidden. "Coats of skin" because presumably they were angels of light formerly. What's the thing about Jacob. "Possessions" rather than something else. I forget.

StephenGoranson wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 6:11 am Rabbi Meir, a second century sage and scribe, who is often quoted in rabbinic literature, reportedly knew some variant readings of Hebrew scriptures, including Genesis.
The Severus Scroll reportedly included variant readings, also.
For more details, wikipedia on the latter is brief; more extensive is Jonathan P. Siegel, The Severus Scroll and 1QIs-a̳ (SBL, 1975).
These variants differ from the Masoretic Text.
If these reports are accurate, then even in the second century CE there were differing Hebrew Bible mss.
Of course, Qumran Bible mss include many differences from MT, and, as well, include some proto-MT texts.
This suggests (to me) that there was no fully-agreed-upon Torah text until medieval times.

We need to keep up and read what Gmirkin has written since his work on Berossus and Manetho. Gmirkin discusses in other work and in some detail with references to the current consensus and view of Septuagint scholars that the Sept was a translation of a Hebrew text that preceded the Masoretic text and that there were Hebrew variant texts for some time after the composition of the first.

If--as REG proposed--the 270s delegation which putatively first wrote the Hebrew Torah in Alexandria in the 270s was the same group to translate that into Greek, then where would variant texts come from?
Occam's razor might suggest that that scenario does not work.
Rather, that Hebrew variants probably predated, and as well postdated, the 270s.

StephenGoranson wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 2:41 pm If--as REG proposed--the 270s delegation which putatively first wrote the Hebrew Torah in Alexandria in the 270s was the same group to translate that into Greek, then where would variant texts come from?
Occam's razor might suggest that that scenario does not work.
Rather, that Hebrew variants probably predated, and as well postdated, the 270s.

Where do variants ever come from? People miscopy or modify deliberately existing texts for all sorts of reasons. Do you want me to list them? I think you know.