Hebrew focused textual critical commentary recommendation

[Bielikov]

What Accordance item (or hard copy or from anywhere) do you recommend as a resource that focuses only on the Old Testament textual critical issues (rather than focus on commentary)? For instance, the EEC has some wonderful things (I cut and pasted them below) that my Word Biblical Commentary, NICOT, ICC do not have, after a quick look, and vice versa. Is there an item, for the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible strictly specializing on textual critical grammatical items such as these below? Despite the fact that I absolutely loved the EEC notes I include below, the EEC is quite incomplete right now and the cost of that volume has to do with all the rest of the stuff that is included, with the textual notes being less than 10% of the text. 

Textual Notes (from Esther Evangelical Critical Commentary)

3.a. For לְכָל־שָׂרָיו וַעֲבָדָיו חֵיל the LXX reads τοῖς φίλοις καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν, “the friends and the rest of the nations.” The “princes” of the MT (שָׂרִים) could have been interpreted as the “friends” (i.e., close advisers) of the Persian king, but the balance of the phrase cannot be explained on the basis of the Heb. of the MT and must represent a different Heb. Vorlage*.

4.a. כְּבוֹד, “glory,” is absent in the Greek. This word, however, is essential to the parallelism of the verse; see the commentary below.

4.b. יָמִים רָבִּים, “a long time,” is absent in the Greek; BHS suggests deleting because the phrase seems redundant.

5.a. LXX and AT read αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, “days of the wedding feast.” There is, however, no suggestion earlier in the text that the feast was in celebration of the king’s wedding. Moore (7) reads τοῦ γάμου as a corruption of τοῦ ποτου, “of the drinking.”

5.b. לְמִגָּדֹול וְעַד־קָטָן, “from great to least,” is omitted in the Greek.

6.a. בַּהַט־וָ, “porpyry and,” is absent in the Greek.

8.a. For וְהַשְּׁתִיָּה כַדָּת, LXX has ὁ δὲ πότος οὗτος οὐ κατὰ προκείμενον νόμον εγένετο, “But this drinking was not according to the designated law.”

9.a. וַשְׁתִּי, “Vashti,” in the LXX is Αστιν; in the AT, Ουαστιν; in Origen, Ουασθη.

[TYA]

Probably an overly simplistic answer here, but do you have the BHS Apparatus yet?

[Bielikov]

Probably an overly simplistic answer here, but do you have the BHS Apparatus yet?

Actually, I did think about that after sending out my request. Yes, I do have it, and it is quite good. I found a group that is going to produce books very much in line to what I was thinking, but they have only produced one on Proverbs, and it is really expensive. It is published by the Society of Biblical Literature. https://www.sbl-site.org/HBCE/HBCE_Volumes.html

[Bielikov]

Here is a sample from the book, super detailed and fascinating.

 

1:32 M G (ἀνθ’ ὧν γὰρ ἠδίκουν) S (ܐܬܘܢܟܦܗܡ) ] 4 מושכת QProva (graph כ → ב , metath ( וש → שו
4Q102 מושבת (“is made to stop”?) makes no sense and is clearly a mechanical error.
G: (a) ἀνθ’ ὧν γὰρ ἠδίκουν νηπίους, φονευθήσονται, ( καὶ ἐξετασμὸς ἀσεβεῖς ὀλεῖ. “(a) For inasmuch as they wronged the innocent, they
shall be murdered, ( and interrogation will destroy the wicked.” As in G 1:17, the translator regards naive youths—such as the son being
addressed—as potentially the direct victims of the wicked. ἐξετασμός associates שלות with שאלה (“question,” etc.) and pictures judicial interrogation.
ἐξετασμός in Wis 4:6 is part of the final judgment of the sinner. אמרי ומצותי 2:1 M S (ܝܢܕܩ̈ܘܦܘ ܝܠ̈ܡ אמרי מצותי [ ( * G (ῥῆσιν ἐμῆς ἐντολῆς)
(near haplog ( י → יוG reads אמרי מצותי , implicitly vocalized as אִמְרֵי מִצְוָתִי . ῥῆσις = .אֵמֶרῥῆσιν singular = plural אמרי in 4:5 and 7:24 (GA).
לבך 2:2 M S (ܟܒܠ) ] לבנך * G (τῷ υἱῷ σου) (near dittog (בנ → בG: (a)( = M; © παραβαλεῖς δὲ αὐτὴν ἐπὶ νουθέτησιν τῷ υἱῷ σου. “© and you will direct it to admonition for your son.” τῷ υἱῷ σου = .לְבִנְךָ This arose by near dittography of the similar-looking ב and נ (for the
phenomenon, see Kennedy 1928, 44). This stich has the obelus in SyrH
and is OG. However, both the verb παραβαλεῖς and the direct object
αὐτήν in 2:2c presuppose καρδίαν in 2:2b, and that stich too must be original.
This implies that the translator is accommodating two variants he is
aware of: לבנך and לבך . Though arising from scribal error, G’s “to your
son” introduces the interesting idea of the listener’s gaining wisdom to
teach his own son; see ABP 1.81.

[Bielikov]

You can get a free download of the introduction as well as all the way to Proverbs 2:17. The link is available at the site I mentioned above, for all the Proverbs people. In one place it says that electronic edition will be free, but there is nothing free about the electronic book. So, I must have misunderstood. I wonder if Accordance could produce this series or if it still would be completely unafordable.

[kingbenlucas]

Hello,

 

If you want all the data in single place, there isn't anywhere available at the moment. The Hebrew Bible a Critical Edition (formerly Oxford Hebrew Bible) aims at producing an eclectic text with all the relevant evidence. So far only Proverbs has appeared. The new fascicles of BHQ also have a lot of evidence. Both these editions also provide a commentary on variants supplied by the editors.

 

In the meantime you simply have to compare the versions (Septuagint, Peshitta, Vulgate, Targum, Samaritan Pentateuch) on your own!

 

If you haven't discovered (and can read French) Dominique Barthelemy's Critique Textuelle then it is a textual commentary on the OT text.

 

I hope that helps,

 

Benjamin.

[jlm]

As was pointed out to me when I asked a similar question, the MT-LXX parallel contains a lot of information on the relationship between those two texts. However, it is densely encoded, and requires a solid knowledge of those two languages to get the full benefit. It doesn't spell things out like a commentary.

[Mark Allison]

These resources are a good start:

 

Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Tov-TCHB

 

BHQ Commentary (not complete)

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=BHQ-6

 

Plus:

 

Anchor Commentary

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Anchor%20Gen-Deut

 

Hermeneia

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Hermeneia%20OT-19

 

OT Library Commentary

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=OTL-Genesis

[Bielikov]

Hello,

 

If you want all the data in single place, there isn't anywhere available at the moment. The Hebrew Bible a Critical Edition (formerly Oxford Hebrew Bible) aims at producing an eclectic text with all the relevant evidence. So far only Proverbs has appeared. The new fascicles of BHQ also have a lot of evidence. Both these editions also provide a commentary on variants supplied by the editors.

 

In the meantime you simply have to compare the versions (Septuagint, Peshitta, Vulgate, Targum, Samaritan Pentateuch) on your own!

 

If you haven't discovered (and can read French) Dominique Barthelemy's Critique Textuelle then it is a textual commentary on the OT text.

 

I hope that helps,

 

Benjamin.

Hello Benjamin, I just yesterday stumbled on the book of Proverbs that you mention. I loved what they are doing. What a shame that they only have one book out at the moment, and unless I misread, it is very expensive, about USD 60 or so, converting from Chilean pesos to dollars. And yes, I spend twenty years collecting my own textual variants on the Book of Isaiah, and that was very rewarding. Thanks for taking the time to write.

[Bielikov]

 

These resources are a good start:

 

Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Tov-TCHB

 

BHQ Commentary (not complete)

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=BHQ-6

 

Plus:

 

Anchor Commentary

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Anchor%20Gen-Deut

 

Hermeneia

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Hermeneia%20OT-19

 

OT Library Commentary

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=OTL-Genesis

 

Hi Mark,

 

I am particularly interested in Anchor Commentary for the complete OT. Is this price correct? It seems so affordable and want to make sure there is no mistake.

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Anchor-OT-63

 

Also, is it possible for you to send me the textual notes for Chapter 2 of the Book of Esther. I am using the Book of Esther, which I own in the EEC and multiple other commentaries, to get an idea of how textual notes are being handled.

 

Very best and thanks,

 

Gregorio

Hi Mark,

 

I am particularly interested in Anchor Commentary for the complete OT. Is this price correct? It seems so affordable and want to make sure there is no mistake.

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Anchor-OT-63

 

Also, is it possible for you to send me the textual notes for Chapter 2 of the Book of Esther. I am using the Book of Esther, which I own in the EEC and multiple other commentaries, to get an idea of how textual notes are being handled.

 

Very best and thanks,

 

Gregorio

Oh yes, Mark, Textual Criticism of the Old Testament by TOV is wonderful, and the second edition was a page turner for me. I purchased a hard copy of the third edition, also.

[Bielikov]

As was pointed out to me when I asked a similar question, the MT-LXX parallel contains a lot of information on the relationship between those two texts. However, it is densely encoded, and requires a solid knowledge of those two languages to get the full benefit. It doesn't spell things out like a commentary.

Many thanks, JLM.

[Bielikov]

Hi Mark,

 

I am particularly interested in Anchor Commentary for the complete OT. Is this price correct? It seems so affordable and want to make sure there is no mistake.

https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Anchor-OT-63

 

Also, is it possible for you to send me the textual notes for Chapter 2 of the Book of Esther. I am using the Book of Esther, which I own in the EEC and multiple other commentaries, to get an idea of how textual notes are being handled.

 

Very best and thanks,

 

Gregorio

Oh yes, Mark, Textual Criticism of the Old Testament by TOV is wonderful, and the second edition was a page turner for me. I purchased a hard copy of the third edition, also.

Hi Mark, Linda sent me the reference from Esther that I had requested, many thanks!