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chapter divisions of WLC and BHS

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:13 pm
by ralph
Hi

Any idea why the BHS chose the chapter divisions of the 1525 Bomberg bible, with Joel having 4 chapters and Malachi having 3 chapters?

And did the WLC choose those chapter divisions because the BHS has those chapter divisions?

Thanks

Ralph Zak

Re: chapter divisions of WLC and BHS

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:04 pm
by Jemoh66
https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/ ... nd-malachi

There's a nice discussion at this URL.

Re: chapter divisions of WLC and BHS

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 7:20 am
by ralph
@Jemoh i'm very familiar with that link but it does not either of my questions. For example that link states that the BHS got its chapter divisions from the 1525 bomberg, and it states the 1525 bomberg's source for those divisions.

But that doesn't address my question of why the BHS chose to use the divisions that the 1525 bomberg used.

And it doesn't address my other question either of whether the WLC chose those divisions because the BHS used them.

Ralph Zak

Re: chapter divisions of WLC and BHS

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:11 am
by Kirk Lowery
I can answer about the WLC, having maintained that text for the past 20 years. ;-)

Originally, WLC started with the BHS text. But in 1998 we began to conform the text to the Leningrad Codex, since we now had a photo facsimile of L. I've never done a comparison to the Bomberg text, but L is our manuscript authority for the WLC. The BHQ also has the same goal: a representation of L as best as they can.

I can only speculate on the BHS editors' choices.

Re: chapter divisions of WLC and BHS

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:27 pm
by ralph
Thanks Kirk, I thought so re WLC's chapter divisions.

A theory with the BHS is perhaps the 1525 Bomberg was so widespread that the chapter divisions it used were seen as the chapter divisions of the hebrew bible.. over the years, in synagogues they also had those divisions inherited from the choice made for the 1525 Bomberg. And so BHS adopted those as they were seen as the chapter divisions for the hebrew bible!