BBH Ch36 — Introduction to the Hebrew Bible¶
A brief orientation to reading the Hebrew Bible: the Masoretic apparatus, pausal forms, Kethiv-Qere, and the textual apparatus of BHS.
Pausal Forms¶
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Words occurring at the major points of verse division (under the Athnach or Silluq accent) are said to be "in pause." Common spelling changes in pausal position:
| Pausal change | Example |
|---|---|
| Pathach → Qamets | עַם → עָם |
| Seghol → Qamets (Segholate nouns) | אֶ֫רֶץ → אָ֫רֶץ |
| 2ms suffix Shewa → Seghol | סוּסְךָ → סוּסֶ֫ךָ |
| Accent shift: Vocal Shewa → Qamets | כָּֽתְבָה → כָּתָ֫בָה |
Masorah¶
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The Masoretes (6th–10th c. AD) added three layers of annotation to the consonantal text:
| Layer | Location | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Masorah parva (Mp) | Outer side margins | Word-use statistics; Kethiv-Qere signals |
| Masorah magna (Mm) | Top and bottom margins | Expanded Mp entries (register in BHS) |
| Final Masorah | End of books/sections | Verse/word/letter counts; midpoint data |
Kethiv-Qere¶
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The Kethiv (כְּתִיב, "what is written") is the consonantal text as it stands. The Qere (קְרֵי, "what is to be read") is the Masoretic correction, signaled by a small circle in the text and the Qere consonants in the margin (marked ק֗).
The most important perpetual Kethiv-Qere:
| Kethiv | Qere | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| יהוה | אֲדֹנָי | Not pronounced out of reverence; vowels of אֲדֹנָי placed under יהוה → יְהוָה |
Textual Apparatus¶
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The textual apparatus appears at the bottom of each BHS page. It contains: - Significant textual variants from other ancient manuscripts (LXX, Peshitta, Vulgate, Targums) - Conjectural emendations by the BHS editors - Notes on full/defective spelling
Key categories of textual error:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Unintentional | Letter confusion, haplography, dittography, word division errors |
| Intentional | Theological euphemisms, anti-anthropomorphisms, glosses |
Purpose of textual criticism: 1. Reconstruct the text as close to the autograph as the evidence allows 2. Document the history of textual transmission