Wednesday, 5 August 2009

Meaning of A B C D in UBS variants

I was wrong about how to interpret the A B C D in UBS OT variants.
The letter is always found against the version which the committee thinks is the most likely original version,
while the certainty of this conclusion is marked by A B C or D.

That's why the letter is not always on the top line

See, for example, PSA 4:4 (3)  - the top line ("that the LORD has singled out the godly for himself") is marked as A,
and the conclusion at the end of the variants says that the best translation is "that the LORD has singled out the godly for himself".

BUT
eg PSA 16:2  the "C" is marked against the second version "I said", and this is the recommended translation at the end.

SO
When we are deciding whether a reading is "poss:" or "prob:" we should do so according to whether or not the letter (A B C or D) is against the top line or not.

The UBS committee is commendably conservative, and the first occurrence where we would put "prob:" is at Ps. 11.1

I don't really understand what is happening at Ps.10.8 - they appear to be of two minds. I guess that in this situation we still say "poss:".

I will correct the "Teamwork" document to reflect what I have written here.

David IB

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