Friday, November 15, 2024

Vince Beiler on the Firkovich Collections

Vince Beiler has put his Cambridge Ph.D. dissertation online for download. I got to know Vince recently in Cambridge, and he has been very generous with his time and sharing his expertise and resources on the Firkovich collections in St. Petersburg. These collections are fascinating and rich, yet hardly touched by modern scholars. There are sections of many different codices there, often as old and important as the Aleppo and Leningrad codices, but almost entirely unstudied. Because the library class marks for these manuscript sections are all mixed up, Vince has had to do a lot of careful work reconstructing the original manuscripts from the various class marks, which is an invaluable service to the field. For more details on the manuscripts and their relationships based on the Masorah, check it out:


The Small Masorah: Genealogical Relationships in 112 Early Hebrew Bible Codices Based upon the Masorah Parva 


Abstract 

This thesis, written by Vincent D. Beiler and entitled The Small Masorah: Genealogical Relationships in 112 Early Hebrew Bible Codices Based upon the Masorah Parva, examines the Tiberian Masorah parva in 10th–12th-century Hebrew Bible manuscripts. In order to integrate the vast amount of data available, select subsections of the Masorah of these 112 manuscripts were collated, amounting to ca. 43,000 Masorah parva notes. The database that arose from this collation was then mined for similarities and differences between the manuscripts, with the goal of providing a stemma of early Hebrew Bible manuscripts. 

In the main, the Masorah parva data indicate that there is a central cluster of manuscripts that are highly uniform, and then a larger number of manuscripts that diverge in various ways, both large and small, from the centre nucleus. These data confirm the centrality of the Aleppo Codex and highlight the value of a number of additional codices that have heretofore been largely overlooked. It is also shown that many of the codices that scholars traditionally have relied upon are perhaps not the optimal MSS with which to begin research of the Tiberian Masorah. 

Additional subgroupings of manuscripts are also noted, particularly (a.) for a cluster of N. African manuscripts, (b.) for a cluster of codices that resemble the Cairo Codex, and (c.) for the manuscripts of Samuel b. Jacob. 

It is also demonstrated that the collection of Bible MSS in St. Petersburg, previously known to many as a scattered collection of leaves, is perhaps more substantial than has been realised. This is because many of the classmarks can be matched with other classmarks of the Firkovich collections, resulting in Bible manuscripts of much more substantial length. These classmark matches number nearly 400 and are set forth here for the first time. 


Wednesday, October 30, 2024

CEHP Updates Blog

In case you haven't seen it yet, we have started posting updates about our progress on the Critical Edition of the Hebrew Psalter website blog. Not only will this be the first digital and eclectic critical edition of the Hebrew Psalms, but we are also piloting a crowdsourcing campaign that is yielding wonderful results.

Andrew Case's Video Series on the Text of the Hebrew Bible

Andrew Case has begun a multi-part video series introducing the issues and sources for the text of the Hebrew Bible. The parts I've seen are well-researched, balanced, and beautifully produced. So if you're looking for a nice introduction to the field, especially for lay audiences, check it out!

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Podcast on the HBCE Psalms Edition

I had the privilege of being interviewed on Andrew Case's podcast about the HBCE Psalms edition, digital and eclectic editions, and textual criticism of the Psalms.

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Manuscripta Bibliae Hebraicae

I just saw the Manuscripta Bibliae Hebraicae project has a nice website up. From the website, "MBH is an ACHN ANR project which supports the systematic study of Hebrew biblical manuscripts produced in Western Europe before 1300, with a view to establishing their typology on the basis of their form and content."

MBH is an ACHN ANR project which supports the systematic study of Hebrew biblical manuscripts produced in Western Europe before 1300, with a view to establishing their typology on the basis of their form and content."

Thursday, May 2, 2024

HBCE Psalms Call for Transcribers

The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition (HBCE) Psalms 1-50 project aims to produce the first born-digital critical edition of the Hebrew text of Psalms 1-50 (including ancient translations), as well as the first eclectic critical edition of these Hebrew poems. The digital edition will also be used to produce the standard printed HBCE volume. The online workflow and output include:
  1. digital images of included manuscripts where permissible; 
  2. full electronic transcriptions of included manuscripts and versions;
  3. semi-automatic collation of manuscripts and versions in multiple languages;
  4. eclectic critical text and extensive textual apparatus.
A preliminary sample of what the edition would like from Psalm 22 can be seen at:

In order to accomplish this milestone in Hebrew Bible textual scholarship, we are calling for volunteer transcribers with an interest in the texts and manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament to help record the data from the most important ancient and medieval witnesses. No previous experience working with manuscripts is required, but some knowledge of one or more of the relevant languages is essential (specifically Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and/or Latin). We will provide volunteers with the necessary introductory training in manuscript studiespaleography, and digital text encoding.

In return, we ask volunteers for a 25-hour commitment spread flexibly over 2 months (an average of 3–4 hours per week) from May through June 2024, including group training sessions. During this time, volunteers will take responsibility for transcribing several Psalms according to an assigned manuscript, which will then be incorporated into the critical edition. Transcribers will gain valuable expertise and experience working with manuscripts and cutting-edge methods of digital editing while contributing meaningfully to a major scholarly enterprise in the field. Transcribers will also be recognized for their contributions by name in the edition.

To sign up, fill out this Google form




Thursday, March 7, 2024

Perceptions of Writing in Papyri Recordings Online

The video recordings of presentations from the Perceptions of Writing in Papyri conference are now available online. This is a great overview of current work on how digital tools have impacted the study of ancient manuscripts.

HT Isabelle Marthot-Santaniello