Showing posts with label BHQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BHQ. Show all posts

Friday, November 14, 2025

Note on Job 30:28 in the Complutensian Polyglot

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Today, I'm finalizing my ETS/SBL paper reviewing Biblia Hebraica Quinta Job (2024) and its use and citation of the Greek versions. For the most part, the editor, Robert Althann, conservatively follows Ziegler's Göttingen Iob (noting the few places where prior scholarship already corrected Ziegler). But in one place that I found, he decided to go his own way and suggested that Ziegler's reconstructed text is actually the variant, and the text in the apparatus should be considered the Old Greek.

The text in just about every Greek manuscript and daughter version reads στένων πεπόρευμαι ἄνευ φιμοῦ, ἕστηκα δὲ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ κεκραγώς “groaning without restraint I walked about, and I stood in the assembly crying out.” The Hebrew reads “I go about darkened, but not by the sun (בְּלֹא חַמָּה); I stand in the assembly and cry for help.” Rashi and the Targum confirm the reading of MT. On the other hand, Vulgate, Peshitta, and Symmachus (ἀθυμῶν) read חַמָּה “the sun” as חֵמָה “without heat, anger.”

In short, Althann proposes that the original translation had ἄνευ θυμοῦ “without anger” but was corrupted to ἄνευ φιμοῦ. The only evidence for this reading is the insignificant catena manuscript (Ra 523), Iulian's commentary, and the Complutensian Polyglot (!). As I was reviewing the Polyglot, I couldn't help but notice that the Vulgate's (sine furore) “without anger” was also the text of the newly prepared interlinear Latin translation of the Greek, which must have been corrected to read ἄνευ θυμοῦ “without anger.” Given the evidence, it seems the editor of the Comp Pol corrected the Greek of the Seventy towards the Latin of the Vulgate.

It turns out, Ziegler had already concluded similarly about the Comp. Pol. here and in Job 38:30 in his Einleitung (p. 57), “In his revision according to M, the editor consulted the Vulgate in several places.” Although the Greek manuscripts for parts of the Comp. Pol. are unknown, in the case of Job at least, we know that Cardinal Ximenes used the manuscript Rahlfs 248 loaned to him by the Vatican which had ἄνευ φιμοῦ.


Thus, the editors of the Comp. Pol. did not simply print the text of their manuscript. They made corrections towards the Hebrew, probably via the Latin Vulgate as well as the many marginal readings of the Three Jewish revisers in Rahlfs 248. Althann's suggestion, based on Schleusner's own proposal, is probably to be rejected in light of this evidence. But I'm always happy to entertain and investigate new proposals like these, especially ones based on a plausible and known Hebrew source as BHQ attempted to do in this case.

UPDATE
BHQ followed Critique textuelle de l'Ancien Testament (vol. 5, p. 289) for this suggested correction to Ziegler's Iob. But CTAT does not engage Ziegler's Einleitung on the Complutensian Polyglot either.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Articles on Five New Editions of the Hebrew Bible

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I recently learned two things I didn’t know: there are five editions of the Hebrew Bible in various stages of production and there is a new Hebrew Bible journal with a number of good articles on these editions.

The journal is called Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (HeBAI), published by Mohr Siebeck apparently as a counterpart to Early Christianity. The 2nd and 3rd volumes have issues dedicated to these new editions. I was only aware of two of these, so I was glad to have essays gathered together on all five.

I’ll share the table of contents for the two volumes along with a short description of the five editions I culled from the introductory essay. I should also point out that Ron Hendel’s essay is especially good and is available free online.

The Five Editions

  1. Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) directed by A. Schenker. The successor to Biblia Hebraica series. Now with a half dozen fascicles available. The fascicles have lots of text critical comments and I understand the hope is to publish these separately once the OT is complete.
  2. Biblia Qumranica (BQ) directed by A. Lange. This is essentially an edition of all the Biblical material from Qumran. So far there is one volume available on the Minor Prophets (Brill, 2005). 
  3. Hebrew University Bible Project (HUB) directed by M. Segal. So far three volumes have been published with extensive introductions according to E. Tov. These cover Isaiah (1965), Jeremiah (1995), and Ezekiel (2004), all published by Magnes. I understand this is a diplomatic edition like BHQ.
  4. Hebrew Bible: Critical Edition (HBCE) directed by Ron Hendel. Formerly the Oxford Hebrew Bible (OHB), this edition is now to be published by SBL. Samples, introductory material, and a list of participants are online here. Randall Buth has questioned the need for such an edition on the blog in the past.
  5. Der Samaritanische Pentateuch (SP) directed by S. Schorch. An introduction to this edition from Schorch is available here.

Essays on the Five Editions

HeBAI, vol. 2, no. 1 (2013)
  • Evaluating New Editions of the Hebrew Scriptures (pp. 1-5)
    Knoppers, Gary N.
  • The Edition Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) (pp. 6-16)
    Schenker, Adrian
  • The Biblia Qumranica as a Synoptic Edition of the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls (pp. 17-37)
    Lange, Armin
  • The Hebrew University Bible Project (pp. 38-62)
    Segal, Michael
  • The Oxford Hebrew Bible: Its Aims and a Response to Criticisms (pp. 63-99)
    Hendel, Ronald
  • A Critical editio maior of the Samaritan Pentateuch: State of Research, Principles, and Problems (pp. 100-120)
    Schorch, Stefan
HeBAI, vol. 3, no. 4 (2014)
  • The Theory and Practice of Textual Criticism (pp. 355-362)
    Knoppers, Gary N.
  • Scribal Practices and Approaches Revisited (pp. 363-374)
    Tov, Emanuel
  • New Editions of the Hebrew Scriptures: A Response (pp. 375-383) [This a response to the essays in volume 2]
    Tov, Emanuel
  • Comments on New Editions of the Hebrew Scriptures (pp. 384-391) [This a response to the essays in volume 2]
    Williamson, H.G.M.
  • The Idea of a Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible: A Genealogy (pp. 392-423) [online here]
    Hendel, Ronald
  • The Question of the So-Called Qumran Orthography, the Severus Scroll, and the Masoretic Text (pp. 424-475)
    Lange, Armin
  • The Rationale for the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint (pp. 476-490)
    Hiebert, Robert J.V.

Concept Video of HBCE/OHB Electronic Edition