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  • From: Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] Leningrad Codex / BHS error-filled?
  • Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 10:12:44 -0500

>===== Original Message From "Christopher V. Kimball" <kimball AT ntplx.net>
=====
>(The Leningrad Codex) "..(as BHS is), which is the most error-filled of the
>ancient manuscripts (it is not even the best manuscript written by its
>author, who wrote a much better one after he wrote the Leningrad
manuscript)."
>
>This is a little disconcerting. Could someone please explain the issue?

The Leningrad codex does have a number of interesting variants, which you can
usually spot pretty quickly anyway (missing vowel points, etc.), and the BHS
apparatus often notes. This comment sounds like the standard argument for
using the Aleppo codex instead, which is supposed to be better and used to be
the earliest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible known to exist. (It was
later damaged and now, If I recall correctly, lacks the bulk of the Torah.)
It
is still the base for the critical edition being worked on in Jerusalem,
although they have to use something else (Leningrad, I think) for the missing
portions. Some prefer Leningrad for the simple fact that it is now the
earliest complete manuscript that we have. I suppose others still think it's
the best manuscript we have in the Tiberian tradition. It's still the most
widely accessible (at least, in the form found in BHS), and many of the
problems with it are details that won't significantly affect most types of
work. Like anything else, you have to use good judgment. If what you're doing
requires a particularly precise version of the Tiberian pointing, you'll want
to use appropriate methods and tools to account for variants that creep into
just about any manuscript. Another thing to keep in mind in this regard is
that BHS is not necessarily the best production of the Leningrad codex
possible. On this issue, you might want to take a look at Dotan's edition.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics





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