B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Hello everyone!

I am in need of a Hebrew Bible, a BHS, but as I look up in Amazon I find different versions and I'm not pretty sure about which is the one that I need (I want the latest, official, full-featured BHS). Here are the links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

Could you give me some advice about which to buy (even if it's not among the links above)?

Thanks a lot.

normansimonr wrote:Hello everyone!

I am in need of a Hebrew Bible, a BHS, but as I look up in Amazon I find different versions and I'm not pretty sure about which is the one that I need (I want the latest, official, full-featured BHS). Here are the links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159856 ... d_i=507846

Could you give me some advice about which to buy (even if it's not among the links above)?

Thanks a lot.

It sounds like you are taking a class which requires that you buy BHS (Biblia Hebreica Stuttgartgensia). From the descriptions given in the Amazon pages, all of the examples you found have the identical text, even to the identical textual notes, so it matters little which one you get. You may ask your teacher if he has a preference, other than that, it’s your choice.

If, on the other hand, you are doing a self-study and reading the text on your own, I have used different copies. In the days before computer texts, I had a copy of BHS, which was big and bulky. For reading on the road, I made use of the Koren published pocket Tanakh. Today I read Bible on my computer, using a free text available for Windows™, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS. I have a copy of Tanakh on all my computers.

Sources:

Paper Bibles mentioned above:
http://www.korenpub.com/EN/categories/t ... rei_tanakh
http://www.korenpub.com/EN/products/tan ... 9653010536 their pocket edition.

Software:
http://www.crosswire.org free Bible software programs with multiple Bibles in many languages, including Biblical Hebrew available for almost all computers.

Hope this helps.

Karl W. Randolph.

Thanks, Karl, for your reply and for the resources. I like the tanach.us Westminter Leningrad Codex for most purposes, but I need a critical edition to compare several manuscripts and versions, and the BHS comes to be what I need. If they're all the same text, then I'd go for the cheapest, but it's not clear to me why the huge differences in prices, given that they're all new.

normansimonr wrote: If they're all the same text, then I'd go for the cheapest, but it's not clear to me why the huge differences in prices, given that they're all new.

They are the same text -- but they are not the same size. If you read the section called "Product Details," you'll find that they differ significantly in size. That's the primary reason for the price variation.

You're right. Now, most of them are really tiny!! no more than 19 cm tall! I think I'd go for the 9.2 or 9.5 inches versions. Thanks.