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Two Ancient Editions of the Book of Jeremiah

The book of Jeremiah has been handed down from antiquity in two separate editions that differ markedly from each other: MT and the Alexandrian version (JerAlT), which is represented by the original Greek translation (JerG*) and certain Qumran fragments. The Alexandrian edition is about one-seventh shorter than its Masoretic counterpart, and it deviates from JerMT both in its macro-structure and in some traits of its microstructure. A growing and well-founded consensus holds that the two editions derive from a common ancestor, with JerAlT still closely resembling this predecessor, whereas JerMT has been enlarged and restructured. This chapter characterizes the translation technique of JerG* and the value of that source as an access to its Hebrew Vorlage. Further, the essay discusses the most important reasons for the text-historical priority of the Alexandrian edition and the secondary nature of the Masoretic Sondergut (the material specific to the Masoretic edition), with the strongest probative force accorded to the pre-Masoretic idiolect, an extended set of linguistic properties distinguishing the Sondergut from the remainder of the book and, to a major part, from the entire rest of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, the chapter summarizes the particular features of the Sondergut, it reflects on the intention guiding the scribes who created this corpus, and concludes with an estimate of its date of origin.