In this issue: Shira Shmidman | The Dispute between Rami bar Hama and Rava – New Perspectives Ariel Malachi | David Ben Saꜥad Al-Saꜥadi and the Intense Polemic Regarding Allegory in Yemen Oded Yisraeli | Keter Shem Tov of R. Shem Yov Ibn Gaon: A Chapter in the History of Nahmanides’ Kabbalah in the 13th–14th Centuries Oz Bluman | Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin and the Recontextualization of Hasidic Innovation Gideon Freudenthal | 'Maꜥasseh Nissim'. Salomon Ben Joshua (Maimon)’s Commentary on The Homilies of Haran (R. Nissim Ben-Reuben Gerundi)

Articles in this volume: Emanuel Tov - The Development of the Text of the Torah in Two Major Text Blocks Michael Segal, Emanuel Tov, William Brentת Seales, Clifford Seth Parker, Pnina Shor, Yosef Porath, with an Appendix by Ada Yardeni - An Early Leviticus Scroll from En-Gedi: Preliminary Publication Kristin De Troyer - Reconstructing the Older Hebrew Text of the Book of Joshua: An Analysis of Joshua 10 Armin Lange - 4QXIIg (4Q82) as an Editorial Text Gary A. Rendsburg - How Could a Torah Scroll Have Included the Word זעטוטי Nancy Benovitz - Psalm 91:1 and the Rabbinic Shemaʿ in Greek on a Byzantine Amuletic Armband Yosef Ofer - A Fragment of the Aleppo Codex (Exodus 8) that Reached Israel Rachel Hitin-Mashiah - Main Division in the Verse in the 21 Prose Books: Syntactic Study Jordan S. Penkower - An Esther Scroll from the 15th Century: Determining its Type among Five Traditions (Oriental, Sefardi, Ashkenazi, Italian, Yemenite)

Textus is the only scholarly journal in the world devoted solely to issues of the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible and related questions. The volumes present a wide range of research papers dealing with general topics and the specialized aspects of the work of the Bible Project, in English, French (with Hebrew summaries), and Hebrew. To date twenty three volumes of studies have been published, edited by the editors of the HUBP and other textual scholars Dedicated to David Weissert On the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday. content & preface

Textus is the only scholarly journal in the world devoted solely to issues of the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible and related questions. The volumes present a wide range of research papers dealing with general topics and the specialized aspects of the work of the Bible Project, in English, French (with Hebrew summaries), and Hebrew. To date twenty three volumes of studies have been published, edited by the editors of the HUBP and other textual scholars Contents Alexander Rofé - Isac Leo Seeligmann – Text Criticism in Context Jože Krašovec - Phonetic Factors in Transliteration of Biblical Proper Names into Greek and Latin D. Andrew Teeter - “You Shall Not Seethe a Kid in its Mother’s Milk”: The Text and the Law in Light of Early Witnesses Christoph Levin Aram und/oder Edom in den Büchern Samuel und Könige David Weissert - Obadiah 20: Septuagint and Vulgate Adele Berlin - Rams and Lambs in Psalm 114:4 and 6: The Septuagint’s Translation of X //
 Y Parallelisms Johann Cook - The Relationship between Textual Criticism, Literary Criticism and Exegesis – An Interactive One? Frank H. Polak - The Place of the Dikaios: Creative Translation and Verse Order in the Septuagint of Proverbs Bradley Gregory - The Rebuilding of the Temple in the Text of Tobit 13 and its Implications for Second Temple Hermeneutics Christopher - Begg Solomon Secures his Kingdom According to Josephus Yonatan Sagiv - “To Give Moses a Pause …”: New Examples of Biblical Textual Divisions as Reflected in Rabbinic Literature and a Suggested Connection to the Calendar Debate Moshe A. Zipor - “The Blessing of the Priests is not Read and not Translated”? Rafael Isaac (Singer) Zer - Was the Masorete of the Aleppo Codex of Rabbinate or of Karaite Origin? Sara Japhet - Did Rashbam Know the Vulgate Latin Translation of the Song of Songs? Yosef Ofer - Methods and Sources of Yedidya Shelomo Norzi in his Treatise Minhat Shay Hebrew Abstracts 

The twenty-third volume of Textus as well as the forthcoming twenty-fourth are dedicated to the memory of Prof. Isac Leo Seeligmann on the centennial of his birth and the twenty-fifth anniversary of his passing away. In his research and teaching Seeligmann emphasized the relationship between the establishment of the text (constitutio textus) and the exegetical endeavor; in addition, he highlighted the connection between the transmission of the writings and the beliefs of the scribes that copied them. An illustration of this method, an extreme one perhaps, is offered here in his article on Psalm 47 which concludes the major, non-Hebrew, part of this volume; the article was first published in Hebrew in Tarbiz 50 (1980/1) 25–36. We have tried in any case, to carry on Seeligmann's projects and work by dedicating the present two volumes to the subject "Text-Criticism and Beyond". Thus we intend to emphasize that textual criticism should not become an isolated discipline, but rather should remain an integral part of the philological historical study of the Bible. The editorial board of Textus has been expanded in this circumstance in order to comprise representatives of four generations of text-critics formed in Jerusalem. A fifth generation is already at the gate, represented by the editorial secretary, Mr. Guy Darshan, M.A., who undertook the heavy burden of preparing the manuscripts for press. Ms. Naama Baumgarten-Sharon assisted conscientiously throughout this project. I hereby thank the colleagues who participated in this enterprise and the authors that committed their writings to this periodical. Let their work be blessed!

Jubilees is a pseudepigraphical composition from the second century BCE, which was preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book rewrites the Pentateuch until the Sinaitic revelation, by means of additions, omissions and other changes. Scholars tend to the view it as a unified work, composed by one author. In light of numerous contradictions, both in narrative details and in issues of biblical interpretation, Michael Segal suggests a new approach towards understanding the literary development of the work: a redactor relied upon extant sources, generally rewritten biblical narratives, and incorporated them into a new literary framework. The redactor's unique contribution can be identified in the chronological framework and the legal passages. The internal contradictions between the different literary genres are the result of the literary development of the book. This source-critical analysis reveals a unified, complete worldview in the redactional layer of the book, which can be summarized by one fundamental principle: God established the entire world order at the time of creation. This is exemplified through the analysis of the question of the origin of evil in the world, perhaps the most pressing theological issue for any monotheistic religion. Throughout the book, one finds different approaches to this critical question, but when the redactional layer is examined by itself, a clear view emerges – God created both good and evil at the dawn of time as part of a cosmic, dualistic system. This book is intended for all those interested in Bible, Jewish literature of the Second Temple period, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and Early Biblical Exegesis.