Peter Schäfer, “Current Views on the Editing of Rabbinic Texts of Late Antiquity: Reflections on a Debate after Twenty Years,” in Martin Goodman and Philip Alexander, eds., Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 79-82 (original) (raw)

This paper discusses the challenges of editing rabbinic texts from Late Antiquity, focusing on the debate surrounding the significance of manuscript variations. The author contrasts the static approach of Milikowsky, which maintains the idea of a singular 'urtext', with a dynamic model that acknowledges the evolving nature of rabbinic literature. The paper argues for the importance of uncritical transcriptional editions, which allow researchers to better understand the text's development and the influence of various scribes and transmitters.