Do we have the original Hebrew text of the Bible?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

When we speak about the "original" Hebrew text, we must distinguish between the physical manuscripts written by the prophets and the various versions of the Hebrew text that exist today.

1. The Loss of the Autographs

From a historical and scholarly perspective, we do not possess the "autographs"—the actual pieces of parchment or papyrus upon which Moses, David, or Isaiah physically wrote. Like all ancient documents, the original physical copies perished due to time, use, and the various persecutions and exiles the Israelites faced.

2. The Shift in Script (Paleo-Hebrew vs. Modern Hebrew)

It is important to note that the Hebrew text used today is not written in the same alphabet used by Moses or David.

• Paleo-Hebrew: The original Old Testament scriptures were written in Paleo-Hebrew, an offshoot of ancient Phoenician script. This was the script of the Ten Commandments and the early prophets.
• Modern (Square) Hebrew: The Israelites acquired the modern Hebrew alphabet from Assyria (Persia) around the 6th–7th century B.C., during the Babylonian exile. This was many centuries after much of the Old Testament was originally composed. Therefore, even the Hebrew "originals" used by Jews today are written in a script adopted long after the time of the Exodus.

3. The Masoretic Text vs. the Septuagint

The Hebrew text most commonly used in Bibles today is known as the Masoretic Text. However, this was not finalized until between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D.—nearly a millennium after the time of Christ.

• The Jewish Context: During the early centuries of the Church, the Jews who rejected Christ sought to standardize their own Hebrew text.
• The Coptic Perspective: We recognize that the Septuagint (LXX), which was translated into Greek in the 3rd century B.C. (long before the Masoretic standardization), often preserves an older and more accurate understanding of the original Hebrew meaning than the modern Masoretic Hebrew does. This is why the New Testament writers and the Coptic Church Fathers preferred the Septuagint.

4. The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew

Regarding the New Testament, early Church historians such as Eusebius, Jerome, and Origen mention that a Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew existed.

• Jerome claimed that a copy of this Hebrew original was preserved in the library at Caesarea, collected by the martyr Pamphilus.
• Jerome also mentioned copying it from the Nazarenes in Beroea (Aleppo).
• However, this Hebrew text is no longer extant. While some historical fragments remain in Greek and Latin citations, the "original" Hebrew Matthew is not in our possession today.

Conclusion

While we believe God has preserved His Truth from generation to generation, we do not have the original physical manuscripts. The Hebrew text available today (the Masoretic Text) is a later tradition. As Coptic Orthodox Christians, we rely on the Septuagint and our ancient Coptic translations as the most faithful witnesses to the inspired Word of God delivered to the fathers.