Manuscript Evidence for the OLD Testament
A manuscript is a hand-written document. Prior to the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, copying by hand was the only way to duplicate any document (the original is called the autograph).
The original Old Testament was written primarily in the Hebrew language. The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, done in the third and second centuries BC. The Peshitta is the translation into Syriac from Hebrew, probably in the second century AD. The Vulgate is a late fourth century AD Latin translation.
At present there are more than 3,000 Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, as well as 8,000 manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate, over 1,500 manuscripts of the Septuagint, and over sixty-five copies of the Peshitta. Upon careful examination, only about 10 percent of the Hebrew text has any question about its readings, and of that percentage only a small portion is concerned with any significant difference in the meaning of the text.
Source: “Where Did Our Bible Come From?” Dr. Paul Wegner, Decision Magazine (September 2017, Vol. 59, No. 2), pp. 12-15.
