Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia

Written by A Dotan, (ed.) Reviewed By Philip Johnston

This is a handsomely produced new edition of the Leningrad Codex. First published in 1973, it has gone through several corrected reprints, and now appears in a pleasing Hebrew font and a handy size. It is as faithful to the manuscript as possible, and an appendix lists the few uncertain readings (less than one per chapter). Other minor variations and standardisations (including repositioning Chronicles) are explained in the introduction. Like its exemplar, this edition presents only very few texts as poetry (Exod. 15, Deut. 32, Judg. 5, and Pss. 117, 118:1–3, 119, 135:19–20, 136).

The overall size is midway between large and small editions of BHS. The font size is similar to the small BHS, but wider word-spacing makes the text more immediately readable. The font is also slightly larger and heavier than in the recent JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. For those wanting a clear, non-annotated edition of the Ben Asher text, BHL (as it may be called) is now the best available.

This edition aims to be both ‘scientific’ (in the Ben Hayyim tradition) and liturgical. On the one hand, it benefits from decades of meticulous and loving research on the minutiae of the Masora, claiming to correct minor errors in BHS on numerous occasions (though no list is given). On the other, it includes the traditional Jewish liturgical divisions of the text. However, it may fall between two stools, since its lack of critical apparatus hampers scholarly use, and its classroom look may limit religious use.


Philip Johnston

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford