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I'm just curious because I've seen asserted that there may have been variant texts at the time.. and that Xtians didn't necessarily make up their "proof texts" out of whole cloth.. perhaps there were "pre-Xtian Xtians" so to speak.


That is a really good point and untill we invent a time machine we just won't know for certain.

Take the Greek word "parthenos." Xians translate that into English as "virgin" and assert that its presence in Greek versions of Isaiah 7:14 are "proof" of a virgin birth prophecy.

Yet parthenos is also used in Greek translations to speak of Dinah (in Genesis) AFTER she was raped.

Ergo even the Greek word didn't mean what some people think it means.

You are taking a Hebrew word and translating it to Greek (not a 1 for 1 match) and then translating it a 3rd time. Bound to get messed up.

There are some "prophecies" in the GT that just don't fit the idea of happening accidentally -- things like the messiah coming from Nazareth (nowhere in the Tanach) or out of Egypt. . .

But some of them may have stemmed from poor translations -- the Jews and non-Jews using Greek for the Tanach were not educated Jews or they would have been using the Hebrew. . .

As for the the Greek texts at Qumram I just read the book UriYosef recommends and the author made the point that holy books caused one to constantly wash one's hands (impurity) so "non-holy" versions in variant forms of Hebrew and Greek let one study them without the rituals. Often these were paraphrasing -- and perhaps that explains a few things.


And everything that Sarah tells you, listen to her voice. Genesis, 21:12