Thank you for the question on the earliest Hebrew manuscripts, “What are the earliest manuscripts for the Hebrew Bible?”
The earliest least uncontested Hebrew manuscripts is the Dead Sea Scrolls dating to the 2nd or 1st BCE. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scroll, the earliest scroll is the Nash Papyrus, dating 2nd BCE and contains the Decalogue or Ten Commandments as well as the beginnings of the Shema prayer.
With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran Community, depending on the dating of the scrolls, the dating may be to the 3rd or 2nd BCE.
With the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE and the rebuilding of the Temple through Zerubbabel and Ezra’s reformation, the Jews had their scrolls while in Babylon. The reason why I say that is that Ezra is known as the Teacher of the Law. Is it possible that some Old Testament parchments may be found in the Babylonian-Persian Empire? Would there be pottery shards or synagogues have etchings of the Old Testaments? I would like to think so.
The reconstruction of the 2nd Temple from Zerubbabel to King Herod’s lifetime meant that the Jews had access to the scrolls that were preserved in the Temple. The Ethiopian Eunuch was able to purchase the scroll of Isaiah and one would think that copies of that scroll would be preserved as well.
From what I read this is the oldest text, “ In a tomb at Ketef Hinnom in Israel, the oldest text of the Hebrew Bible was discovered. The text, inscribed on a silver scroll in the old Hebrew script dating to the 7th Century B.C., is the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), which begins, “yeverekh’kha YHWH Vayishmarekha” (May Yahweh bless you and keep you).” (7th C. BC – Ketef Hinnom Scroll).
As Bible scholars look for and compare various parchments or scrolls, the greater critical question becomes what are the similarities and differences between the various dated scrolls. Overall, the differences are minimal. One can read online about textual criticism.
-Kingston