As early as about 600 B.C.E., the prophet Jeremiah wrote concerning scribal tampering of Scriptures:

How do you (scribes) say, We are wise, and the laws of Yahweh are with us? Certainly, behold, the pen has practiced deceit, a lie of the scribes. The wise are put to shame; they are terrified and are captured. Behold, the word of Yahweh they have rejected and their wisdom is their own. (Jer. 8:8-9)

There are 134 times when Jewish copyists (Sopherim) of the Masoretic text, believing that certain passages were too often quoted that used the sacred name Yahweh, changed the primitive Hebrew text to read adonai or eloahim instead of Yahweh. Continue reading “The Lying Pen of the Scribes” →