The Hebrew texts of the Bible were composed at various periods before and after the Babylonian exile (581 B.C.E.), a few archaic passages being dated by some scholars to as early as the second half of the 2nd millennium B.C.E. The earliest biblical manuscripts are found among the Qumran scrolls, which date from the 3rd century B.C.E. to the 1st century C.E. The printed editions that are in use today are based on a form of text found in medieval manuscripts that derives from a school of scholars …