Biblia Hebraica Quinta and the Oxford Hebrew Bible: The Skinny

In earlier posts, I have shown that BHQ and OHB in sample form, while carefully done, provide an incomplete picture of the textual data in hand and are occasionally guilty of sins of omission and commission with respect to treated loci. The upshot is clear: BHQ and OHB are tools to be used alongside other relevant secondary literature and must be checked against the primary data. They do not replace either.

It is also true that BHQ and OHB represent a radical improvement over BHS. Both (will) belong on the shelves of serious students of the Hebrew Bible.

A truly satisfactory edition of the Hebrew Bible for the purposes of text criticism would be electronic in nature, and include hyperlinks to all relevant textual data - Hebrew and versional - such that in situ comparison of analyzed texts would be no more than a click away.

For my review in full of the BHQ fascicles that have appeared to date in pdf form, go here.

Comments

[Eric]

What ever came of the Hebrew Bible project that was based at Hebrew University? I forget the name of it. But I believe the only fascicle that ever came out was Isaiah. I recall using it, and I think it was considerably more exhaustive than BHQ or OHB, and would probably rival the Goettingen LXX in length if it were to be completed. But, yes, I agree with you. Henceforth, the best textual apparati that will become available are bound to be in electronic form.

[JohnFH]

Hi Eric,

if you look at my full review to which I link, I discuss HBP in some detail. Three volumes have appeared (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel), and together with the annual Textus, they are a priceless resource. However, it seems as if the project is dead in the water.