Biblia Hebraica

One of the barriers involved in teaching students of Biblical Hebrew about the Masorah is the lack of introductory literature on the subject. Although a lot of information about the Masorah is available in print, most of it is in technical professional journals or encyclopedia articles. Scattered about in disparate sources, often not in English, this literature is easier to ignore than it is to incorporate into introductory Hebrew classes. As a result, most students of Biblical Hebrew complete their studies without any background on the Masorah. This volume fills this gap by providing an introduction and glossary to the Masorah of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Although the volume could be used by any student of the Hebrew Bible, it is specifically designed to be helpful for students who are just learning Hebrew. Thus it can serve as an important parallel text for second semester or second year Hebrew courses. The introductory chapters give an overview of the field of Masoretic studies and explain the mechanics of using the Masorah of BHS. The annotated glossary provides students with definitions and explanations for most of the terms used in BHS, including examples.

This classic introduction to textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is now entirely updated. The book examines the transmission of the biblical text in its original languge, the history of its translation, the causes of corruption in the textual tradition, and the proper principles and techniques of textual criticism.

This manual is designed to be used in conjunction with the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and has the following goals: to enable beginners to gain access to the language of the text apparatus of BHS and to the Masoretic apparatus as well, to document the apparatus language of BHS in its entirety and to provide references to the Old testament text wherever possible, to propose a new concept of dealing with the apparatus of BHS and thus to advance the science of publishing critical editions of a text. These goals are achieved through a translation of the items of the apparatus of BHS into English and through a complex but clear presentation of the relevant material in paragraphs, figures, and indexes.

Ernst Wurthwein?s introduction to the Biblia Hebraica has served since 1952 as a standard textbook for generations of students. This third edition, revised and expanded by Alexander Achilles Fischer, brings Wurthwein?s classic work up to date with the new Quinta edition of the Biblia Hebraica. Besides updating information throughout, this edition also includes a new chapter on the texts from Qumran.

Vols. 1-64 include extracts from correspondence.