Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH God):

Codex Vaticanus and the Old Testament: A Key Witness to the Septuagint Text

by Edward D. Andrews

The Codex Vaticanus stands among the great manuscript treasures of biblical history. Known by the siglum B and cataloged as Vatican Library, Vat. gr. 1209, it is a fourth-century C.E. Greek biblical codex written in a formal majuscule hand on parchment. Its importance for Old Testament studies rests chiefly in the fact that it preserves one of the earliest extensive witnesses to the Greek Septuagint tradition. Yet its value must be understood with proper textual balance.

Vaticanus is not the base text of the Old Testament. The base text remains the Masoretic Text, represented especially by the great Tiberian manuscripts such as the Aleppo Codex and Codex Leningradensis. Vaticanus is a powerful comparative witness, especially where its Greek text reflects a Hebrew Vorlage older than medieval Hebrew manuscripts, but it must be weighed alongside Hebrew manuscript evidence, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Syriac Peshitta, the Aramaic Targums, and the Latin Vulgate.

This distinction is essential. A Greek codex, even a very early and excellent one, does not outrank the Hebrew textual tradition merely because it is older than the surviving complete Hebrew codices. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, with portions in Aramaic, and its textual restoration must begin with the Hebrew-Aramaic textual stream. The Septuagint, including the form preserved in Vaticanus, is a translation. It can preserve evidence of an earlier Hebrew reading, but it can also preserve interpretation, paraphrase, harmonization, stylistic smoothing, translational freedom, or later Greek revision. Therefore, Vaticanus is most useful when it is treated neither with suspicion nor with excessive confidence. It is an early witness of great value, but its readings require careful evaluation.

The Vatican Library and the Manuscript’s Historical Place

The Vatican Library became the long-term home of Codex Vaticanus, and the manuscript was known in its collection by the fifteenth century. The codex’s presence there gave it the name “Vaticanus,” not because the manuscript originated in Rome, but because it was housed in the Vatican collection. Its earlier history before its appearance in that library is not documented in a way that permits certainty. The manuscript’s script, format, and textual character place it in the fourth century C.E., a period when large biblical codices were being produced in professional Christian book centers. Its parchment format, careful hand, and broad biblical contents show that it was an expensive and deliberate production rather than a casual copy.

The codex originally contained a very large portion of the Greek Bible. In the Old Testament portion, it preserves most of the Septuagint text, though with significant losses. Its text begins after a major lacuna in Genesis, so the opening chapters of Genesis are not preserved in the original hand. A substantial portion of Psalms is also missing. In the New Testament portion, the manuscript preserves Matthew through part of Hebrews, ending at Hebrews 9:14 in the original manuscript. Later hands supplied some missing material, but those later supplements do not carry the same textual weight as the fourth-century portions. This reminds the textual critic that every manuscript must be evaluated part by part. A codex can be early in one portion and later in another if damaged leaves were replaced.

The physical form of Vaticanus also matters. It is a codex, not a scroll. This places it in the early Christian book culture in which the codex became the preferred format for Scripture. A codex permitted multiple books to be bound together, allowed easier consultation, and helped organize a large scriptural collection in one volume. For Old Testament studies, this is especially important because Vaticanus preserves the Greek Old Testament as part of a Christian Bible.

Its arrangement and contents reflect the Greek Bible tradition known in early Christian circles, including books outside the Hebrew canon. That fact is historically important, but it does not alter the canonical standing of the Hebrew Scriptures as the Old Testament collection received from the Judahite custodians of the text. Romans 3:1-2 states that the Judahites were entrusted with the sacred sayings of Yehovah God, and that statement provides a key Scriptural reason for giving primary textual weight to the Hebrew textual tradition.

Codex Vaticanus as a Greek Witness to the Old Testament

The Old Testament portion of Vaticanus is chiefly important because it transmits the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Septuagint began with the Pentateuch and expanded to include the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures and other Jewish writings. By the time Vaticanus was copied, the Greek Old Testament had already passed through centuries of copying, revision, and use in Judahite and Christian communities. Therefore, Vaticanus does not take us directly to the original Hebrew text. It gives us an early and comparatively disciplined form of the Greek textual tradition.

This matters because the Septuagint is not one uniform textual phenomenon. The Greek Pentateuch often reflects a relatively formal translation style, though not woodenly identical in every book. Some books, such as Proverbs, show freer handling. Jeremiah in the Greek tradition is shorter and arranged differently than the Masoretic form. Job in the Old Greek tradition is also shorter than the Hebrew text, with later Greek material added to fill out the book. These examples show why Vaticanus must be used with book-by-book discrimination. A reading in Vaticanus can be strong evidence in one book and weaker evidence in another, depending on the translation technique and the textual history of that book.

In practical Old Testament textual criticism, Vaticanus is valuable when its reading explains the rise of other readings, accords with early Hebrew evidence, and is not easily explained as Greek interpretation. For example, where a Greek reading corresponds closely to a Hebrew reading found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the combined evidence deserves serious consideration. Where Vaticanus stands alone against the Masoretic Text without support from Hebrew witnesses or other early versions, the Greek reading is normally explained as translation technique, stylistic adjustment, or a secondary Greek development. This is not special pleading for the Masoretic Text. It is sound textual method. A versional witness must be retroverted cautiously, and a Greek expression does not automatically prove a different Hebrew Vorlage.

The Masoretic Text as the Proper Base

The Masoretic Text remains the proper base for Old Testament textual study because it preserves the Hebrew Scriptures in the language in which the inspired writers wrote them. The Masoretes did not create the Hebrew Bible. They inherited a textual tradition, copied it with extraordinary care, added vocalization and accentuation systems, and supplied marginal notes that preserved information about spelling, reading traditions, unusual forms, and textual counting. Their work from the sixth to the tenth centuries C.E. represents the culmination of a much older scribal tradition.

The strength of the Masoretic tradition is visible in its precision. The Tiberian Masoretes marked vowels, accents, and marginal notes with a discipline that made the text highly resistant to uncontrolled alteration. The consonantal text they preserved is older than the vocalization signs added around it. The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that proto-Masoretic textual forms existed long before the medieval codices. This point is decisive against the claim that the Masoretic Text is late merely because the complete manuscripts are medieval. The manuscripts are medieval; the textual tradition they preserve is ancient.

The Aleppo Codex and Codex Leningradensis illustrate this preservation. The Aleppo Codex, associated with the Ben Asher tradition, is one of the finest witnesses to the Tiberian Masoretic Text, though portions of it are now lost. Codex Leningradensis, dated to 1008 C.E., is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible and serves as the base text for major critical editions. These codices do not stand in opposition to Vaticanus. Rather, they provide the Hebrew foundation against which Vaticanus must be compared. Vaticanus can illuminate the history of the Greek Old Testament and occasionally preserve evidence relevant to an earlier Hebrew reading, but the Masoretic tradition supplies the controlling Hebrew base.

Scripture and the Preservation of the Text

The study of manuscripts is not detached from Scripture’s own testimony about the endurance of Yehovah God’s word. Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Psalm 119:160 says, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” Matthew 5:18 records the Messiah’s statement that until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke would pass from the Law until all is accomplished. These texts do not require the claim that any single manuscript was preserved without scribal error. They affirm the enduring authority and stability of Yehovah God’s word, and the manuscript record shows that the text has been preserved and can be restored through careful comparison of witnesses.

This is an important distinction. Faithful textual criticism does not rest on the idea that Yehovah miraculously prevented every copyist from making mistakes. Copyists did make mistakes. They omitted words by homoeoteleuton, repeated words by dittography, harmonized parallel passages, adjusted grammar, and occasionally introduced marginal material into the text. Yet the abundance of manuscript evidence makes these changes identifiable.

The preservation of the Old Testament text occurred through a controlled scribal culture, careful copying, public reading, reverence for Scripture, and the multiplication of witnesses across regions and languages. The spirit-inspired Word itself is the standard by which Yehovah’s people are guided. Second Peter 1:21 states that men spoke from Yehovah God as they were moved by the holy spirit, and that inspiration attaches to the original prophetic message, not to later scribal imperfections.

The manuscript evidence therefore strengthens confidence rather than undermines it. Vaticanus, the Masoretic codices, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Syriac Peshitta, the Aramaic Targums, and the Latin Vulgate form a broad evidential field. Where they agree, the stability of the text is strongly confirmed. Where they differ, the differences are normally limited, explainable, and recoverable through disciplined textual analysis. The result is not skepticism but informed confidence.

The Relationship Between Vaticanus and the Hebrew Text

The relationship between Vaticanus and the Hebrew text is complex because Vaticanus preserves a Greek translation, not a Hebrew manuscript. A Greek translator faced many decisions. Hebrew word order, idiom, verbal forms, and poetic structure do not always transfer directly into Greek. For example, Hebrew frequently uses compact verbal sequences and parallel clauses that Greek translators rendered with conjunctions, participles, or explanatory phrasing. A difference between Vaticanus and the Masoretic Text can therefore arise from translation style rather than a different Hebrew exemplar.

One example of this principle appears in places where the Greek text simplifies difficult Hebrew syntax. Hebrew poetry often leaves relationships between clauses compressed, while Greek prefers clearer syntactic connections. A Greek rendering can therefore appear to contain an added word or explanatory phrase, even when the translator was simply making the Hebrew intelligible in Greek. Conversely, a shorter Greek reading does not automatically prove that the Hebrew Vorlage was shorter. The translator can omit repetition, compress a difficult expression, or render two Hebrew words with one Greek word.

At the same time, Vaticanus cannot be dismissed whenever it differs from the Masoretic Text. In some cases, the Septuagint preserves evidence that points to a Hebrew form different from the later Masoretic wording. This is especially significant when the reading is supported by Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran. The Dead Sea Scrolls show that more than one Hebrew textual form circulated in the Second Temple period, though the proto-Masoretic tradition is strongly represented and highly stable. A Vaticanus reading supported by an early Hebrew manuscript deserves close attention. A Vaticanus reading unsupported by Hebrew evidence and easily explained as Greek translation technique normally does not displace the Masoretic Text.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Control of Greek Evidence

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls transformed Old Testament textual studies because it provided Hebrew manuscripts from the centuries before and around the time of the Messiah and the apostles. These scrolls demonstrated that the Masoretic tradition was not a medieval invention. Many Qumran [Dead Sea Scrolls] manuscripts align closely with the later Masoretic Text, showing that the consonantal base of the Masoretic tradition was already established in antiquity. This gives direct support to the use of the Masoretic Text as the Old Testament base.

The scrolls also provide a control for evaluating Vaticanus. When a Greek reading in Vaticanus differs from the Masoretic Text, the textual critic asks whether any Hebrew evidence supports the Greek. If a Qumran [Dead Sea Scrolls] Hebrew manuscript agrees with the Greek against the Masoretic form, the possibility of an earlier Hebrew reading becomes stronger. If no Hebrew evidence supports the Greek, and the Greek reading fits known translation tendencies, the Masoretic reading remains superior. This method gives proper weight to Vaticanus without allowing a translation to overrule the Hebrew tradition by mere age or reputation.

This is especially important in books where the Septuagint has a distinct textual profile. Jeremiah is the classic example because the Greek text is shorter and arranged differently than the Masoretic Text. Some Hebrew evidence from Qumran confirms that a shorter Hebrew edition of Jeremiah existed. This does not mean that every shorter Greek reading is original. It means that Jeremiah must be evaluated with attention to edition, arrangement, and Hebrew support. Vaticanus is an important witness in such cases, but it is not self-authenticating. The controlling question remains: Which reading best explains the rise of the others and best accords with the earliest recoverable Hebrew evidence?

Vaticanus and the Septuagint’s Strengths

Vaticanus is especially valuable because its Greek Old Testament often preserves a text less affected by later ecclesiastical smoothing than many later manuscripts. In several books, Vaticanus is a primary witness to the older Septuagint form. This makes it important for reconstructing the history of the Greek Bible and for identifying how early Judahite and Christian readers encountered the Old Testament in Greek. The New Testament writers frequently quote the Old Testament in forms that resemble the Septuagint, though not always identical to any one surviving manuscript. This means that knowledge of the Septuagint is necessary for understanding many New Testament citations.

For example, Hebrews 10:5 quotes Psalm 40:6 in a Greek form that differs from the Masoretic Hebrew wording. The Hebrew text speaks of ears being prepared or opened, while the Greek tradition speaks of a body being prepared. The inspired New Testament use of the Greek form shows that the apostolic writer could employ a Greek rendering to make a Messiah-centered argument grounded in the meaning of the passage. This does not make the Septuagint superior to the Hebrew in every place. It shows that Greek textual forms were part of the scriptural environment of the first-century congregation and must be studied carefully.

Another example is Acts 8:32-33, where the Ethiopian official reads from Isaiah 53 in a form close to the Septuagint. Philip begins from that Scripture and declares the good news about the Messiah. The passage demonstrates the practical role of the Greek Old Testament in early Christian proclamation. Yet Isaiah was written in Hebrew, and the Hebrew text remains essential for exegesis. The Greek witness helps us understand reception, translation, and textual history; the Hebrew base anchors the inspired wording of the prophet.

Vaticanus and the Septuagint’s Limits

The value of Vaticanus must be matched by clear recognition of its limits:

First, it is not complete. Losses in Genesis and Psalms mean that its testimony is absent in important portions of the Old Testament.

Second, it is a translation witness. Even where it is early, it reflects Greek renderings of Hebrew, not the Hebrew text itself.

Third, its text is not equally strong in every book. The Septuagint tradition developed book by book, and different translators used different methods.

Fourth, the manuscript itself contains corrections, and later hands interacted with the text. A correction can preserve a good reading, but it must be distinguished from the original hand.

A concrete example of these limits is the book of Job. The Old Greek version of Job is significantly shorter than the Hebrew Masoretic Text. Later Greek tradition filled out portions of the text, producing a more complete Greek form. In such a book, a shorter Greek reading in Vaticanus requires great caution. It can reflect the translator’s condensed rendering rather than a shorter Hebrew original. Another example is Proverbs, where the Greek tradition sometimes rearranges material and handles the Hebrew with freedom. The textual critic must therefore avoid the simplistic argument that the oldest Greek manuscript automatically preserves the oldest Hebrew reading.

This caution does not diminish Vaticanus. It protects its proper use. A manuscript is most valuable when used according to its actual character. Vaticanus is an excellent early Greek witness, not a flawless Hebrew witness. It is a treasure because it gives access to a major stream of the Greek Old Testament. It becomes misleading only when treated as though it can replace the Hebrew textual tradition.

Scribal Quality and Correctors

The scribal quality of Vaticanus is one reason for its high standing. Its handwriting is controlled, its layout is carefully planned, and its overall production reflects professional copying. The Old Testament portion appears in a carefully executed biblical majuscule script. The copyists wrote in columns and followed conventions suitable for a high-quality biblical codex. Such physical discipline does not guarantee a perfect text, but it does show that the manuscript was produced in a serious scribal environment.

Correctors also interacted with Vaticanus. This is normal in ancient manuscript culture. A manuscript copied by hand was often reviewed by another reader or corrected against another exemplar. Corrections can reveal that a manuscript was valued and used. They can also show that more than one textual form was known. In textual criticism, the original hand and the correctors must be distinguished. A fourth-century original reading has one kind of value; a later correction has another. The original hand of Vaticanus often carries great weight because of its date and quality, while corrections must be evaluated according to their age, source, and agreement with other evidence.

This attention to scribal layers is also important for the Masoretic tradition. The Masoretes carefully distinguished written forms from read forms, noted unusual spellings, and preserved marginal information. Their work shows that scribal preservation was not careless repetition. It involved disciplined attention to details. In that sense, Vaticanus and the Masoretic codices both testify to serious manuscript cultures, though they belong to different linguistic streams and different stages of transmission.

Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus

Vaticanus is often studied alongside Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus. These great Greek uncials are major witnesses to the Greek Bible. Sinaiticus, also from the fourth century C.E., preserves large portions of the Old Testament and the complete New Testament, along with additional writings outside the canon. Alexandrinus, from the fifth century C.E., is another major Greek witness. Together, these codices help reconstruct the Septuagint’s transmission and reveal where Greek textual traditions agree or diverge.

Vaticanus often holds a privileged position among these witnesses because its text is frequently earlier and less expanded in several portions of the Greek Old Testament. Yet agreement among these codices must still be weighed carefully. If Vaticanus and Sinaiticus agree against the Masoretic Text, that agreement can show an early Greek tradition, but it does not automatically prove a different Hebrew original. If their agreement is supported by a Hebrew Dead Sea Scroll reading, the case becomes much stronger. If their agreement reflects a known Greek interpretive tendency, the Masoretic reading remains secure.

The comparison among these Greek codices also helps identify later revisions. The Greek Old Testament underwent revision toward Hebrew forms in certain traditions, including revisions associated with Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Origen’s Hexaplaric work. Vaticanus can preserve pre-recensional readings in many places, but no single codex is free from all complexities. The careful textual critic therefore studies each book and each variant in context.

The Hebrew Canon and the Greek Codex

One issue raised by Vaticanus is the difference between manuscript contents and canon. Vaticanus, as a Greek Christian codex, contains writings not included in the Hebrew canon. Their presence in a manuscript does not establish them as inspired Scripture. Ancient codices could include useful religious books, ecclesiastical books, or books read in certain communities without giving them the same canonical status as the Law, Prophets, and Writings.

The Messiah referred to the recognized scope of the Hebrew Scriptures in Luke 24:44 when he spoke of “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms.” This threefold description corresponds to the Hebrew scriptural collection. Romans 3:2 states that the Judahites were entrusted with the sacred sayings of Yehovah God. The canonical Old Testament is therefore grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures entrusted to Israel, not in the broader contents of later Greek Christian codices. Vaticanus is historically important because it shows what a major fourth-century Greek Bible contained, but canon must not be determined merely by the table of contents of a single manuscript.

This distinction prevents confusion. A manuscript can be an excellent textual witness and still contain noncanonical books. The value of Vaticanus for the Old Testament lies in its witness to the Greek transmission of canonical books, not in redefining the canon. The Hebrew canon remains the proper boundary for the Old Testament.

Textual Examples and Methodological Clarity

A responsible study of Vaticanus must proceed through concrete textual questions rather than broad claims. When the Greek text differs from the Masoretic Text,

The first question is whether the Greek can be explained as a translation of the Masoretic Hebrew. If it can, there is no need to posit a different Hebrew Vorlage. For example, a Greek translator can render a Hebrew idiom dynamically, replace a metaphor with a clearer expression, or change word order to fit Greek style. These differences are translational, not textual.

The second question is whether the Greek reading has support from Hebrew manuscripts. A reading found in Vaticanus and supported by a Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew manuscript stands on stronger ground than a Greek reading alone.

The third question is whether the reading explains the origin of competing readings. A harder reading can give rise to smoothing; a shorter reading can arise from accidental omission; a longer reading can arise from explanatory expansion.

The fourth question is whether the reading fits the author’s style and immediate context. Textual criticism is not mechanical counting. It requires disciplined judgment based on external and internal evidence.

Deuteronomy 32 provides a useful illustration of the need for broad comparison. The textual tradition of the Song of Moses includes readings where the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, and the Masoretic Text must be weighed together. In such passages, the critic does not simply ask which witness is oldest in surviving material form. The critic asks which reading best accounts for the total evidence. The same principle applies throughout the Old Testament. Vaticanus is indispensable in the comparison, but it is not the automatic winner.

Vaticanus and Translation Work

Bible translation benefits from Vaticanus because translators must know where the ancient versions preserve significant evidence. A translation based on the Masoretic Text should still consult Vaticanus and other Septuagint witnesses. When the Masoretic Text is clear and well supported, the translation should follow it. When the Masoretic Text contains a difficult reading and the Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, and other versions converge on a better-supported Hebrew form, the translator must evaluate that evidence carefully. The goal is not to prefer novelty, but to restore the original wording where the evidence warrants it.

This process must be transparent. A translator should not quietly replace the Hebrew text with the Greek because the Greek is easier. Nor should a translator ignore strong ancient evidence because of attachment to a printed Hebrew edition. The correct method gives the Masoretic Text priority as the base while allowing ancient witnesses to assist in places where the Hebrew transmission requires evaluation. This is especially important in passages where a copyist’s error can be explained, such as confusion of similar Hebrew letters, accidental omission between similar endings, or marginal clarification entering the text.

The result is a translation philosophy that is both stable and evidence-based. It honors the Hebrew text, respects the ancient versions, and avoids speculative reconstruction. Vaticanus contributes significantly to this work, especially in books where its Septuagint text is early and carefully transmitted.

Theological Significance of Vaticanus

The theological significance of Vaticanus is not that it creates uncertainty, but that it demonstrates the breadth and recoverability of the biblical text. Yehovah did not leave His word dependent on a single manuscript locked away in one library. The text was copied in Hebrew, translated into Greek and other languages, read in synagogues and congregations, cited by teachers, and preserved across centuries. This wide transmission means that scribal errors in one line can often be detected by comparison with another. The manuscript tradition is not chaotic; it is abundant.

The Old Testament itself emphasizes public transmission. Deuteronomy 31:24-26 describes Moses writing the words of the Law in a book and commanding that it be placed beside the ark of the covenant as a witness. Joshua 1:8 commands continual attention to the book of the Law. Nehemiah 8:8 describes the public reading and explanation of the Law after the return from exile. These passages show that the text was not an esoteric possession. It was read, taught, copied, and preserved among Yehovah’s people. Vaticanus belongs to the later history of that transmission in Greek-speaking Christian circles, while the Masoretic Text preserves the Hebrew stream with exceptional care.

The confidence produced by this evidence is measured and objective. It does not deny variants. It explains them. It does not claim that every manuscript is equally accurate. It distinguishes stronger witnesses from weaker ones. It does not depend on conjecture where manuscript evidence is sufficient. It rests on the disciplined comparison of real textual witnesses.

Why Vaticanus Remains a Treasure

Vaticanus remains a treasure because it is early, extensive, carefully copied, and textually significant. It provides one of the best windows into the Greek Old Testament available today. It allows scholars to study the Septuagint in a form close to important early stages of Greek transmission. It helps identify later revisions and expansions. It provides comparative evidence for evaluating difficult Old Testament variants. It also shows the seriousness with which early Christians copied and transmitted Scripture.

Yet its greatest value is realized only when it is placed in proper relationship to the Hebrew text. Vaticanus supports Old Testament textual criticism; it does not replace the Masoretic Text. It is a major witness to the Greek version; it is not the inspired Hebrew original. It is often excellent; it is not flawless. It sometimes preserves readings of great importance; it also sometimes reflects translation technique or Greek textual development. These distinctions allow Vaticanus to be appreciated without exaggeration.

The Vatican Library preserved a manuscript that has become one of the central witnesses in biblical studies. Its pages testify to the early transmission of the Greek Bible, the disciplined work of scribes, and the usefulness of ancient versions in restoring the text. For the Old Testament textual scholar, Vaticanus is not a rival to the Hebrew tradition but an important companion witness. When read alongside the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the ancient versions, it strengthens the conclusion that the Old Testament text has been transmitted with remarkable stability and can be restored with confidence where variants exist.

Conclusion: A Great Witness, Not the Final Judge

The Codex Vaticanus deserves its reputation as one of the great biblical manuscripts. Its Old Testament text is indispensable for Septuagint studies and highly valuable for Old Testament textual criticism. It preserves an early Greek witness that often helps clarify the history of the biblical text. Nevertheless, the proper textual base for the Old Testament remains the Hebrew Masoretic Text, especially as represented by the Tiberian tradition. Vaticanus must be consulted carefully, respected deeply, and evaluated rigorously.

The manuscript evidence does not justify despair over the text. It justifies confidence. The Hebrew tradition, supported at key points by ancient witnesses, has preserved the Old Testament with extraordinary care. Vaticanus adds a major line of evidence from the Greek world, showing how the Scriptures were transmitted, translated, and read in early Christian centuries. When all the evidence is weighed by the historical-grammatical method, the conclusion is clear: the Old Testament text has not been lost. It has been preserved through faithful transmission and can be restored through sound textual criticism.

-- Edited by John D. Keyser.