The first question is “what are the Emendations Of The Sopherim?”.
The second question is “why do I care?”
Let's start with the Sopherim. Sopherim are the scribes of the Old
Testament scriptures, the ones who copied the Masoretic text. Masoretic
comes from the word Masorah, which are notes in the margins made by the
Sopherim. “By simple definition, soferim are copyists, but their religious
role in Judaism is much more” - Wiki(Sofer) [2].
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| Page From Aleppo Codex |
The Masoretic text is considered by the Jews to be the authoritative text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism.
It was primarily copied, edited, and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE). The oldest known complete copy, the Leningrad Codex, dates from the early 11th century CE. Wiki(Masoretic_Text) [3]
Emendations are corrections to a text, or altering the text to improve it. Some say the alterations are to correct errors, some say emendation is editing - Wordnik [4]. Ordinary people would probably just call them “scribal edits”. The emendations may be much older than the Masoretes.
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Why Emend The Text?
One reason given for emending the text was to protect the sacredness of God's name YHVH - faith-once [5]. Some pronounce it Jehovah, some say Yehovah, some say Yahweh, but the Jews don't pronounce His name at all. And they don't want anyone else pronouncing it either. YHVH appears in the Old Testament 6823 times unchanged, but many claim 134 additional times the Sopherim changed YHVH to Adonai meaning Lord, or sometimes Elohim meaning God. Nearly all English Bibles translate YHVH as “LORD”, that is all caps, often in a smaller font. Often, Bibles will explain that they are translating YHVH this way in the introduction. Here's what the Foreword from the New American Standard Bible says.
The Proper Name of God in the Old Testament: In the Scriptures, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for the Deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim. One of the titles for God is Lord, a translation of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it as been consistently translated LORD. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated GOD in order to avoid confusion [I find it more confusing]. It is known that for many years YHVH has been transliterated as Yahweh, however no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation. NASB [6]
So why did the Sopherim change those 134 occurrences? Scholars differ, but one source claims these are the reasons given [5].
1. Those places where a man directly addresses God;
2. When a man makes a statement bringing God into a personal relationship with himself;
3. Where YHVH was shown directly intervening in the affairs of men;
4. Where anyone caused a reproach against God;
5. Where anyone claimed to have personally seen God.
It sounds to me like the changes make it appear as if no one had a personal relationship with Jehovah.
Two Jehovahs??
Some of the emendations have doctrinal implications. They obscure the
truth that God is more than just a single Being, specifically that God is
two Jehovahs [1]. Consider Psalm 110, this is where we'll spend the rest of
our time. For clarity, we'll look at verses 1 and 5.
1. The LORD said unto my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.”
5. The LORD at Your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of
His wrath.
If you read those verses out loud, could someone tell when you read LORD
in all caps? I can't tell who's who in the English, read it again with the
names.
1. Jehovah said unto my Adon, “Sit at My right hand...”
5. Adonai at Your right hand (emended)
5. JEHOVAH at Your right hand (not emended)
Using BibleHub.com [7], I did find 7 translations that say “LORD” in verse 5, and 2 that actually say Jehovah, one of those translated from Aramaic. Qbible.com [8] also has YHVH in Ps 110:5. Without emendations, Ps 110 clearly states there is a Jehovah sitting at the right hand of another Jehovah. The Churches of God have always taught that this refers to God the Father and God the Son. I don't know when they learned about the emendations, but UCG does mention them in the Study Paper [9] “The Nature of God and Christ” - p14 [10]. The idea of two Jehovahs is a problem for anyone who believes that God is one being. Jesus Himself quotes Ps 110.
Mt 22 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET”’? 45 Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.
Again, if read aloud, could you tell when LORD is in all caps? In the Greek the name Jehovah is translated as Kurios. YHVH never appears in the Greek New Testament - BibleStudyTools [11]. So let's plug Kurios into Mt 22:43-45.
Mt 22:43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘KURIOS,’ saying, 44 KURIOS SAID TO MY KURIOS, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET” 45 Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Kurios,’ how is He his son?”
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| Mt 22:44 in Codex Vaticanus |
Also recorded in Mark 12:35-40 and Luke 20:41-47.
The Hebrew gospel of Matthew (some say it's the original, some say a translation from Greek) reads “The Lord said to my Lord”
Remember, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, the experts in the Old Testament (Tanach), yet no one was able to answer Him. Some say it is possible that the emendations were already done before this time, and that Jesus knew it. By quoting this verse, He let them know He knew it. Ps 110 is quoted 20 times in the New Testament, showing it's importance. Most of those 20 quotations refer to Jesus being at the right hand of God, that is Jehovah at the right hand of Jehovah. A few verses quote Ps 110:4 that talks of Melchizedek.
How could David's Lord be his son? And how could Kurios say to another Kurios?
Jesus Is Not An Angel
Hebrews 1:13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”? Upper case here means it is a quote from the Old Testament.
Hebrews 1 and 2 are full of Old Testament quotes showing that Jesus
is the Son of God, not an angel, though there are Old
Testament verses where He is referred to as the “Angel of God”. The
Churches of God are not alone in teaching Jesus' divinity, but others do
teach He was an angel -
ChristianQuestions
[12], the very thing Paul was teaching against in Hebrews. But Ps 110:5
refers to Jesus as Jehovah, Yehovah in Hebrew which means “He was,
He is, He will be”, rendered in Ex 3:14 as “I AM THAT I AM”, or "the
unchanging, eternal, self-existent God,".
“Others contend that the Jehovah of Old Testament times was the same as
God the Father in the New Testament.” -
ChurchOfJesusChrist [13]
Remember Ps 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.”
David called Him “My Lord”. David was the king of Israel so he didn't call any man “my Lord”. We know from Ps 110:5 that the Lord that David knew became known as Jesus (because He sat the right hand), not the One who became known as God the Father. Furthermore, Jesus said He reveals the Father.
God of the Old Testament vs God of the New Testament.
Remember Ps 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.”
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| King David |
David called Him “My Lord”. David was the king of Israel so he didn't call any man “my Lord”. We know from Ps 110:5 that the Lord that David knew became known as Jesus (because He sat the right hand), not the One who became known as God the Father. Furthermore, Jesus said He reveals the Father.
Matthew 11:27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
If the Father were the God of the Old Testament, He didn't need revealing. The God of the Old Testament is in the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, etc. etc. etc. He doesn't need revealing.
134 emendations, one down, 133 to go. I'm going to need more time...
The Rest Of The Story
Not everyone agrees with this interpretation of the 134 emendations. Our knowledge of the emendations comes from “The Companion Bible” by E.W. Bullinger. who got it from a rather dense book (2537 pages) called “The Massorah” by C.D. Ginsburg, both men writing in the late 19th century, both books available free online - Bullinger [14], Ginsburg [15].
We have seen that in many of these one hundred and thirty-four instances in which the present received text reads Adonai in accordance with this Massorah, some of the best MMS [manuscripts]. and early editions read the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) sect 115 [15].
Today, we have access to a lot more manuscripts than Ginsburg, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the most familiar example. Ginsburg said the Masoretic text does not match some of the best manuscripts and early editions, he does not say the Sopherim left notes about them in the margin as some claim. A search for Tiqqun Sopherim (the Hebrew for Emendations) only lists 18, not 134, and they are different edits. If Ginsburg were writing today with the manuscript access of today, would he come to the same conclusions? Some argue Ginsburg was misinterpreted. However, we don't need to appeal to the emendations argument to make the doctrinal statements about the identity of Jesus, but they do make it easier to explain them.
Summary
The Old Testament does point to two Jehovahs, not one or three.
Jesus was the Son of God, not an angel.
Jesus was and is God, it's right in the name Jehovah.
Jesus was the God of the Old Testament.
References
1. https://www.cbcg.org/natureofgod/2jehovahs-of-the-psalms.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofer
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text
4. https://www.wordnik.com/words/emendation
5. https://faith-once-delivered.org/pages/5-134-emendations.php
6.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/bibles/preface-to-the-new-american-standard-bible-2020.cfm
7. https://biblehub.com/psalms/110-5.htm
8. http://www.qbible.com/hebrew-old-testament/psalms/110.html#5
9. https://www.ucg.org/study-papers
10.
https://ucgweb.s3.amazonaws.com/files/papers/ucg-paper-the-nature-of-god-and-christ.pdf
11. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/jehovah
12.
https://christianquestions.com/bible-questions/was-jesus-an-angel-before-he-was-on-earth
13.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-student-manual-genesis-2-samuel/enrichment-section-a-who-is-the-god-of-the-old-testament?lang=eng
14. https://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/AP/ap32/index.html?page=1
15.
https://archive.org/details/Ginsburg_The-Massorah-Compiled-from-Manuscripts_1880-1905/mode/1up?view=theater
16. http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah
