מחלוקת הכיתות בישראל לאורם של תיקונים בנוסחי המקרא

The purpose of this article is twofold: to contribute to the history of Jewish sects in the Second Temple period and to forward our understanding of the history of the biblical text in that period.
Textual corrections were introduced into biblical books by the various sects active during the Second Commonwealth. The Samaritans enhanced the sanctity of their temple on Mount Gerizim by tampering with the text of the Torah, in order to highlight the priority of that place (cf. their tenth commandment in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5). A similar step was taken in Isa 19:18 by the Zadokite priests of Leontopolis in Egypt, in order to legitimate their sanctuary. The Sadducees of Jerusalem added the word ארצה, “unto the earth” in 1 Sam 7:6 in order to invalidate the Pharisaic practice of water libation on the altar during the Sukkoth festival. Pharisaic interventions in the text of Proverbs (14:12), Psalms (49:12), and Qohelet (3:21) were noted long ago. To these I would add one more passage in Qohelet (5:5). The Essenes (=Qumranites) introduced their own tenets into Isaiah (8:11; 9:14; 53:11). The belief of the Zealots (=Josephus’s “Fourth Philosophy”) in the exclusive kingship of the Lord had an antecedent in the LXX version of the Pentateuch, which, from Genesis 49 to Deuteronomy 33, degrades all kings of Israel to the rank of arkhon (נשיא).
There are some indications that Jewish sectarian divergences had already appeared in the third century BCE. All in all, sectarian interventions in the biblical texts are limited in number. This indicates that the tenet of untouchable sacred books was usually accepted by the Jews as early as the Hasmonean times.