^[1] Kevin J. Vanhoozer et al., eds., Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), 784, http://www.credoreference.com/book/bpgtib.

^[2] Emanuel Tov, “Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Methodology,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

^[3] For example, Moses wrote the Torah, but we do not believe he wrote the final verses of Deuteronomy, which describe his death. The final version of Deuteronomy included the final verses, added by an unknown editor. These final verses are just as “inspired” as the verses authored by Moses. A textual reconstruction of the “final form” of Deuteronomy would include the final verses, not just the ones that came from Moses’ hand.

^[4] For example, the Samaritan Pentateuch is mostly the same as the Masoretic Text, except that it repeatedly describes Mount Gerizim as the authorized location for worship. Through the process of textual criticism, we can see that this is not what Moses originally wrote. The Samaritan Pentateuch deviates from the original meaning of Scripture in these locations.

^[5] Paul D. Wegner, A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods & Results (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 35.

^[6] Paul D. Wegner, A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods & Results (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 60.

^[7] For a handling of this topic in a major Jewish publication, see Paul V. M. Flesher, “Privileged Translations of Scripture,” in The Encyclopaedia of Judaism, ed. Jacob Neusner, Alan J. Avery-Peck, and William Scott Green (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2000).

^[8] Except the Aramaic portions of Daniel and Ezra/Nehemiah.

^[9]. Walter A Elwell and Barry J Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1988), s.v. Masora, Masoretes.

^[10]  “Preface to the English Standard Version,” ESV.org, accessed July 17, 2019, https://www.esv.org/preface

^[11] Amy Anderson and Wendy Widder, Textual Criticism of the Bible, ed. Douglas Mangum, Revised Edition, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 64–65.

^[12] Anderson and Widder, 1:65–66.

^[13] Wegner, Student’s Guide, 160–61.

^[14]  Isidore Singer, ed., The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1901–1906), s.v. Bible Manuscripts.

^[15] Mogens Müller, The First Bible of the Church: A Plea for the Septuagint, vol. 206 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 35–36.

^[16] Geoffrey William Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), s.v. Pentateuch, Samaritan.

^[17]  Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. Greek Versions of the Bible.

^[18] This dynamic was not the case for the Greek-speaking Jews living in the Byzantine Empire. They continued speaking Greek for centuries.

^[19] Hence the reason why the translation is called the Septuagint, or LXX, which means “70.”

^[20] We discuss the range of evidence in this article:  “Was the Greek Septuagint Twisted by Christians to Prove Jesus?” However, the introduction to the apocryphal book of Sirach, dated to the mid-second century BCE, provides an example of strong evidence. It refers to translations of the entire Hebrew Bible into Greek.

^[21] Flesher, “Privileged Translations of Scripture.”

^[22] For an extensive survey, see Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. Aquila.

^[23] Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.21.1, Jerome, De viris illustr. 54.

^[24] Church father Epiphanius of Salamis claimed he was a Samaritan convert to Judaism (Weights and Measures 16). Church historian Eusebius (Hist. eccl. 6.17) said he was a Jewish Ebionite.

^[25] Jerome, Letter 125.11, Oskar Skarsaune, “Evidence for Jewish Believers in Greek and Latin Patristic Literature,” in Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries, ed. Oskar Skarsaune and Reidar Hvalvik (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007), 541.

^[26] Wegner, Student’s Guide, 274.

^[27] Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, s.v. Versions.

^[28] For more detail about how to use the BHS for textual criticism, consult this primer: Reinhard Wonneberger, Understanding BHS: A Manual for the Users of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 2nd rev. ed., vol. 8 (Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1990).

^[29] Benjamin Kennicott, Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum : cum variis lectionibus, 2 vols. (Oxford, UK: Typographeo Clarendoniana, 1776), http://archive.org/details/vetustestamentum01kenn.

^[30] Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi, Variae Lectiones Veteris Testamenti, 4 vols. (Parmae Regia Typographia, 1788), http://archive.org/details/VariaeLectiones.