The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, or BHS, is an edition of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible as preserved in the Leningrad Codex, and supplemented by masoretic and text-critical notes. It is published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft (German Bible Society) in Stuttgart. The Masoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). ... This article is about the term Hebrew Bible. For the Jewish scriptures see Tanakh. ... The Leningrad codex is the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, dated 1008. ... A Bible society is a non-profit organization (usually ecumenical in makeup) devoted to translating, publishing and distributing the Bible at affordable costs. ... For other uses, see Stuttgart (disambiguation). ...

Authority

BHS is widely regarded (by Christians and Jews alike) as an accurate edition of the Hebrew scriptures, and a useful text-critical tool. It is the most widely used edition among biblical scholars.

For masoretic details, however, Israeli and Jewish scholars have shown a marked preference for alternative editions based upon the Aleppo Codex. The Aleppo Codex (the Keter (Crown) Aram Tzova) is the oldest complete manuscript Hebrew Bible, though scrolls of individual books of the Tanakh are much older (see Dead Sea scrolls). ...

Publishing history

BHS is a revision of the third edition of the Biblia Hebraica edited by Rudolf Kittel, the first printed Bible based on the Leningrad Codex. The footnotes are completely revised. It originally appeared in instalments, from 1968 to 1976, with the first one-volume edition in 1977; it has been reprinted many times since. Biblia Hebraica is a Latin phrase meaning the Hebrew Bible. ... Rudolf Kittel (28 March 1853 Eningen, Württemberg - 20 October 1929 Leipzig) was a German Old Testament scholar. ... The Leningrad codex is the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, dated 1008. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ...

Contents

The text of BHS is an exact copy (barring a handful of errors) of the masoretic text as recorded in the Leningrad Codex. The order of the biblical books generally follows the codex as well, even for the Ketuvim, where that order differs from most common printed Hebrew bibles. Thus the Book of Job comes after Psalms and before Proverbs, and the Megilloth are in the order Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations and Esther. However, Chronicles has been moved to the end as it appears in common Hebrew bibles, even though it precedes Psalms in the codex. The Masoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). ... The Leningrad codex is the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, dated 1008. ... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ... The Book of Job (איוב) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. ... In the third major section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), which is called Ketuvim (The Writings), there are five relatively short biblical books that are grouped together and known collectively in the Jewish tradition as The Five Scrolls (Hebrew: Hamesh Megillot or Chamesh Megillos). ... The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible (also see Old Testament). ... Psalms (from the Greek: Psalmoi) (originally meaning songs sung to a harp, from psallein play on a stringed instrument, Ψαλμοί; Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים, or praises) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh or Old Testament. ...

In the margin are Masoretic notes. These are based on the codex, but have been heavily edited to make them more consistent and easier to understand. Even so, whole books have been written to explain these notes. Some of the notes are marked Sub loco, meaning that there seems to be some problem, often that they contradict the text. The editors never published any explanation of what the problems were or how they might be resolved. The Masoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). ...

Footnotes record possible corrections to the Hebrew text. Many are based on the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls and on early Bible translations such as the Septuagint, Vulgate and Peshitta. Others are conjectural emendations. This entry incorporates text from Eastons Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernisation. ... The Dead Sea scrolls consist of roughly 1000 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1979 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran (near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea) in the West... The Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brentons Greek edition and English translation. ... The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century version in Latin, partly revised and partly translated by Jerome on the orders of Pope Damasus I in 382. ... The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible in the Syriac language. ...

Work is now under way to produce a revision, to be known as the Biblia Hebraica Quinta or Fifth Hebrew Bible, being a revision of the existing fifth edition of BHS. The Biblia Hebraica Quinta is the fifth version of the Biblia Hebraica, and when complete will supersede the fourth version, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). ...

Literature

BHS editions

• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Hardcover: ISBN 3-438-05218-0, Paperback: ISBN 3-438-05222-9

About the BHS

• Kelley, Page H, Mynatt, Daniel S and Crawford, Timothy G: The Masorah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Eerdmans, 1998
• Mynatt, Daniel S: The Sub Loco Notes in the Torah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Bibal Press, 1994
• Wonneberger, R: Understanding BHS: Biblical Institute Press, 1984
• Würthwein, Ernst: The Text of the Old Testament, an Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica (2nd edition): SCM Press, 1995
• Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible by C.D. Ginsburg