SOME EXAMPLES OF TEXTUAL VARIATIONS
There are thousands of variations that exist between the different versions. Most are minor variations such as the spelling of words, grammatical constructions and discrepancies in numbers. Let’s take a look at some examples by comparing the Septuagint Torah (LXX), Masoretic Torah (MT) and Samaritan Torah (ST):
Genesis 5:31
LXX: All the days of Lamech were 753 years…
MT: All the days of Lamech were 777 years…
ST: All the days of Lamech were 653 years…
Exodus 12:40
LXX: Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt and Canaan was 430 years.
MT: Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt [only] was 430 years.
ST: (Same as LXX)
However, there are also variants that are significant. Here are some examples:
Genesis 16:12
LXX: [Ishmael] shall be a wild man…
MT: [Ishmael] shall be a wild man…
ST: [Ishmael] shall be a fruitful man…
In the verses above, it makes a big difference whether Ishmael is described as being wild (a possibly derogatory term) versus fruitful (which is a positive statement and would support the prophecy in Torah about Ishmael being made a great nation, see Genesis 17:20).
Deuteronomy 32:8
LXX: …when He [God] separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
MT: …when He [God] divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
ST: (Same as MT)
In the verses above, it appears that either the authors behind the Masoretic Text and Samaritan Torah changed the reference to “sons of Israel” to make the Torah more Israelite-centric, or the author of the Septuagint changed the reference to “angels of God” to make the Torah less Israelite-centric.
Before anyone makes the claim that they have the original Torah, they must first deal with the problem of establishing which version of the Torah, if any, is authoritative.