Sunday, July 09, 2017

More on the Leningrad Codex scribe

PALEOGRAPHY: Author of 10th-century Hebrew biblical text is identified (Madeleine Buckley, USA Today).
The ancient text, known to scholars as Codex L17, contains only Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings. Researcher Kim Phillips wrote in an article the Tyndale Bulletin that he determined that the author was the scribe Samuel ben Jacob, or “Samuel, son of Jacob,” and that it was written around the year 975.

Samuel ben Jacob also wrote The Leningrad Codex, the earliest known complete copy of the Hebrew Bible, completed in the year 1008 and the basis for many modern biblical translations.
This story reached the blogosphere late last week. I noted it here. But it's good to see the mainstream media taking some notice.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.