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Biblical Language Study Resources

This guide is a collection of reference sources at UPSem Libraries for studying biblical Hebrew and koine Greek. Most of these are in the Reference collection of the Richmond library; many are also available in the Charlotte library.

Masoretic Studies & Orientation to BHS

 

  • Kelley, P. H., D. S. Mynatt, and T. G. Crawford. The Masorah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Introduction and Annotated Glossary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
    • Richmond: REF. DF 25 K29; BS718 .K38 1998
    • Charlotte: 221.446 K2877M
    • If you want to understand the Masorah parva and magna (that is, the largely incomprehensible Hebrew/Aramaic abbreviations in the margins of your Hebrew Bible, which are actually whole conversations about the text by the Masoretes who copied and passed down the text for generations), this is the place to start.

 

  • Scott, W. R. A Simplified Guide to BHS. 3rd ed. N. Richland Hills, Tex.: BIBAL Press, 1995.
    • Richmond: REF. CB 24 1968 G; BS715 2007
    • Charlotte: 221.44 SCO86S; 221.44 SCO868S 2007
    • This slim volume will help you make sense of the Latin abbreviations and symbols in the critical apparatus of BHS (that is, the footnotes). It offers a simple and straightforward discussion of the Masoretes, the Masoretic tradition, the critical apparatus of BHS, the Masorah, the accents, unusual letters, and other markings. (The 1995 and 2007 printing are the same thing, but the 2007 edition has an added index previewing Biblia Hebraica Quinta, currently in production/partial publication.)