Textual Harmonization in Exodus 1–24

Abstract Of all the textual features in the manuscripts of all the witnesses of the Torah books, harmonization is probably the most prominent feature. The author has studied this phenomenon in the other books of the Torah and now devotes attention to Exod 1–24. This study is limited to chapters 1–24 because the special complications of the tabernacle chapters do not relate to their internal harmonizations but rather to their editorial changes both large and small. More than the other sources, including the Sam. Pent., LXX-Exod is harmonizing, including some very intriguing changes. Often the LXX and Sam. Pent. go together in their harmonizing tendencies, but more often the LXX reflects such changes (especially pluses) alone among the textual witnesses. Also the pre-Samaritan texts, the tefillin and the liturgical scrolls harmonized to a great degree. The paper presents all the data subdivided into categories of textual relations, in Hebrew and Greek, together with statistics. The paper substantiates the thesis that the harmonizing changes and pluses were made in the Hebrew text from which the Greek translation was made and not by the translator.