Shrouded in Silence by Robert Wise Read Free Book Online Page B

Poland. Their time in a kibbutz had been difficult. Dov had been a sabra, a native-born Israeli. Jack had greatly admired the tenacity of the Sharon family, and when he discovered Dov's exceptional ability to translate ancient Hebrew, he signed him up for their team. The choice proved valuable, but Michelle remained unsure.
"I brought you a cup of coffee," Michelle said and handed it to Dov. "It will warm your heart."
"Toda raba," Dov thanked her in Hebrew. "You have started my engine running."
Jack pointed to the other room. "Let's go in and sit around the conference table. Bring any papers or documents you need. We'll be updating our work."
Michelle picked up her coffee and a file. "I'm ready."
She paused and watched her husband for a moment. A gentle sort of man who could forget the time of day while walking down the street, he was actually on the shy side. Michelle had learned early in their relationship that weight lifting had helped him overcome much of his childhood bashfulness. Under Jack's short-sleeved shirt, she couldn't help noticing his strong, muscular arms. His unusual strength remained one of the paradoxes in this man's life. Although brilliant, he got lost watching people walk by or gazing at some strange sight. But no matter how often he disappeared in his thoughts, she loved him because he was such a kind man and generous to a fault.
"I'm ready as well," Dov walked behind her.
Jack sat down at the head of the table. "Dov, you've been working on a Hebrew translation of the Sarajevo Haggadah I noticed."
"All week. Been checking some of the literary style of this ancient manuscript to sharpen my awareness of any possible shifts in Hebrew during recent times. There are a few unusual pictures as the manuscript came from a time when Jews considered figurative art to be a violation of the commandments. It's rather straightforward. I'm more than ready to shift to your project."
"Michelle, tell Dov where we are," Jack said. "Let him know how we got to this point in our work. Give him a brief summary."
Michelle nodded. "Let's start here." She picked up a Bible and opened it to the end of Mark's Gospel. "The King James Version ends by including verses nine to twenty as genuine while the Revised Standard Version puts these same verses in footnotes. For interpreters of the Bible these variations pose a problem. If the Scripture is inspired, how can we make sense out of these differences?"
"I understand," Dov said. "Such problems make people anxious."
"Exactly," Michelle said. "There is also a shorter ending that virtually everyone fairly well agrees was tacked on. Even conservative scholars dismiss it."
"The longer ending is found in some significant manuscripts like Codex Ephraemi and Codex Alexandrinus as well as a number of fragments," Jack added. "Of course, the original ending would have been on papyrus. Because some Church Fathers in the earliest centuries used this ending, Jerome put verses nine through twenty in his Latin Vulgate. That's essentially how it wound up in the King James Version."
"I see," Dov said thoughtfully.
"We found an interesting aspect of the longer ending while studying in Jerusalem," Michelle continued. "In three of the oldest Armenian manuscripts, these verses are present, but a fourth manuscript attributed them to a presbyter named Ariston."
"Fascinating," Dov said. "What about the earliest Church Fathers? How do they stack up?"
"We found that Clement, Origen, and Eusebius used the shortest ending concluding in 16:8," Jack said. "That adds to our conclusion that the verse eight ending with the Greek word γαρ or, in English, 'for' indicates we have strong evidence that the first ending to the verse was torn off. I believe we are almost ready to start hunting for where the fragment might be hidden here in Rome."
"You've concluded that there's no question but that the first ending is around Rome somewhere?" Dov sipped his coffee. "You ready for me to bring my shovel to work tomorrow?"
"Not