LDS NEWS - BYU PROFESSOR TO EDIT HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT

Professor to edit Hebrew Old Testament By Emily Stone - 15 Jun 2009

Photo by University Communications Donald W. Parry scans over ancient records. Parry will be an editor for the fifth edition of the Hebrew Old Testament.Brigham Young University professor Donald W. Parry of Hebrew Bible Studies in the College of Humanities, has been named as an editor for a new edition of Biblia Hebraica Quinta, the fifth edition of the Hebrew Old Testament. “This work will impact virtually all translations of the Old Testament (including the King James Version) for many years to come, including all translations of all of the world’s languages,” Parry said. Parry is one of several editors from all over the world and one of a few from the United States. “To my understanding there are 24 editors,” Parry said. “We are also authors and translators — “editors” is a little misleading, although I use the term myself.” He said the great majority of these editors are from Europe although three of them are from the U.S. Parry describes it as an interconfessional group of professors and scholars. The process includes writing and editing. The final work will result in two separate scholarly publications: A book ­— perhaps 600 pages long — published separately and a large section of the new Hebrew Bible, called Biblia Hebraica Quinta. He said both works will be used by scholars from the worldwide community, researchers and advanced students of Hebrew Bible. The writing and editing process includes a comparison of the ancient witnesses of the Old Testament — in his case, of Isaiah. These witnesses include the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Greek translation (called the Septuagint), the Aramaic translation and others. By using three variations of the Old Testament, he and others working on the project will create the most accurate edition of the Hebrew Bible to be used worldwide. “Each of us who works on the process are involved in writing, editing and translating the texts,” he said. “We are creating an apparatus which includes variant readings, judgments as to which variant reading is correct and explanations as to where the variants originated.” Parry talked about how long the process would take. “I anticipate that my work on the new edition will take about 4-5 years,” Parry said. “I will be conducting most of my work from Provo although I will travel to other libraries in Europe to access materials that are inaccessible here in the USA; plus I will continue to make periodic visits to Jerusalem to access the Dead Sea Scrolls.” “A portion of my work includes comparing the Hebrew Bible of Isaiah to the Dead Sea Scrolls,” he said. “We will include readings from the Isaiah scrolls in our apparatus with recommendations to the 140 translation committees as to which reading is preferred.” Parry’s work and expertise with the Dead Sea Scrolls were part of why he was asked to be an editor. In January 1994, he was invited to serve as a member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As a member he has worked in an official capacity on Isaiah plus other sacred writings. “This work on the scrolls has required me to make periodic trips to Jerusalem to work on the scrolls themselves,” Parry said. “All of these opportunities, plus the publication of several books and articles for the academic community has served to help me to qualify to work on this new edition of the Hebrew Bible.” Parry added “Of course, I see the Lord’s hand at work in all of these movements that pertain to me and my occupational status.” Parry explained why Isaiah’s writings are so important, “Isaiah’s writings and prophecies are Jesus Christ centered and deal with his first coming in mortality, his teachings and miracles, his atoning sacrifice, his trials and tribulations, Gethsemane, the cross and much more. Isaiah also prophesied of the signs of the times, Jesus’ Second Coming and his Millennial reign.” Parry emphasized the importance of Isaiah’s writings. “We gain much insight into Jesus Christ and his divinity from Isaiah. One billion Christians on the earth today benefit from Isaiah’s writings, as do members of other faiths and religions. Jesus Christ commanded us to search Isaiah’s words and those who are obedient to this commandment will receive mighty blessings, a change of heart, and learn how to better come unto Christ.” “To date I have five books published on Isaiah, with a sixth going to press this fall,” Parry said. “This new opportunity represents the most significant and far-reaching opportunity because it will impact so many people in the worldwide community for decades to come.” He anticipates this new edition of the Hebrew Bible will remain the standard edition until someone discovers a new batch of Dead Sea Scrolls. Parry said Latter-day Saints will be impacted, either directly or indirectly, along with other Christians and Jews from the worldwide community. This impact will come as translation committees prepare their translations based on our work on the new edition of the Hebrew Bible, he said. This impact can hardly be exaggerated as the 140 translation committees translate the Hebrew Bible into 140 languages, including German, French, Korean, Spanish, English, Russian, Japanese and more. “Donald Parry’s appointment as an editor of the Hebrew Old Testament brings prestige to his department as well as to BYU generally, said Stephen Perry, professor of Hebrew in BYU’s Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages. “His expertise in the Hebrew of Isaiah also brings credit to the university.” Parry’s books on Isaiah and the Dead Sea Scrolls include: Harmonizing Isaiah: Combining Ancient Scriptures, LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Questions & Responses for Latter-day Saints, Isaiah in the Book of Mormon and Visualizing Isaiah.