Are there Sadducees in the Masoretic Text?

 

Why do I ask: Are there Sadducees in the Masoretic Text?

I asked this question because the scribes of the LXX (the 70, the Septuagint) in antiquity changed the text in places when they rendered it into Greek. And here I refer strictly to the first LXX translation, not to the later revised ones.

From the testimonies of the Jewish rabbis of antiquity we learn that the 70 Jewish translators rendered the text of the Pentateuch (the first five biblical books) incorrectly in certain places, of which they give us 13 examples... If such texts nevertheless appear, it is because of scribal errors, either intentional or due to negligence.

The rabbis of Israel contemporary with those of the translation called LXX did not receive the first Septuagint edition well, because of passages that were possibly intentionally translated incorrectly, made by the translators for certain reasons. Their displeasure was so great that they decreed the day the translation was completed as a day of mourning and perpetual fasting (8 Tebet). It is said that after the translation was completed, a three-day darkness fell over Egypt, which the rabbis saw as a sign of divine disapproval.

Examples:

They rendered the plural of Genesis 1:26 — אעשה אדם (“to make man”) as singular instead of the original נעשה אדם (“let us make man”).

They did the same in Genesis 11:7 — הבא ארדה (“let me go down”) instead of the original הבא נרדה (“let us go down”).

The Sadducees were a religious party of priests who, paradoxically, did not believe in angels (Acts 23:8), so it is possible that a new version of the Torah had appeared in the meantime, reflecting this view.

Well said, whoever said:

"There is no harmony in the Bible, except when you use the whole Bible."

So far we have encountered several renderings of Genesis 18:1, as follows:

"The Lord appeared to him..." Cornilescu+Orthodox,

"THE LORD appeared to him..." Cornilescu Revised,

"Jehova appeared to him..." (TLN, Witnesses),

"God appeared to him..." Septuagint.

Are there others?

If we go by these variants - regardless of which - two very clear statements from the Bible fall out:

From John 1:18. No one has ever seen God; (see "nor can see him" from 1 Timothy 6:16)

and from Hebrews 13:2. Do not forget to show hospitality, for some, without knowing it, have entertained angels (therefore not God).

So the appearance and hosting of God falls. Whom did they host then? The three angels, but it was in the interest of the Sadducean priesthood to conceal this truth.

What do you think? Is it worth investigating the subject and finding a solution?

It is worth it, because, as the poet says:

Deceit flees from the light,

And trembles at the searching eye;

But sacred truths invite the test,

And bid us seek and try.

Oh, that we would keep a quiet and searching mind,

Surely we shall not search in vain,

But shall find hidden treasures.

With a blessed understanding,

Created to be free,

We dare not put our trust in man,

But trust only in Thee, O God.

-- --

AMEN!

An account from the Talmud (an ancient Jewish book) says that in the courtyard of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, three different manuscripts containing the Torah - the books written by Moses, were found, with differences between them; the differences between the three versions were standardized after meetings of the sages.

The question that arises is: How certain can we be that the sages of that time rendered the authentic form of Genesis 18:1 and not one required by the religious policy dictated at that time, when the Sadducean leaders were in power in Jerusalem. Given this, it is possible that Genesis 18:1 and other similar verses sounded differently in the original Torah, such as: "The angels of YHWH appeared to him..." or "The angel of YHWH appeared to him...".

A note in the Masoretic text (annotations of the Masoreticians) says that in the original text of Genesis 18:22 YHWH stood before Abraham, which the scribes before them altered to make it appear that Abraham stood before him. This is strange, but if we consider the possibility of altering the text by removing the word "angel", then we understand why the text read as follows:

Genesis 18:22 And the men turned and went toward Sodom. But the angel of YHWH stood before Abraham.

I would be interested to know how the text of Genesis 18:1 appears in the Pentateuch of Derbent, Dagestan, a text from the 17th century, but which supposedly preserves a text from 604 AD, a text therefore older than the current copies of the Masoretic text (10th century)?

Who has an acquaintance in St. Petersburg so we can see how this rendering appears in the Pentateuch of Derbent, Dagestan (the oldest, from the 6th century AD), located in the former Tsarist library?