At the end of this second Rabbinical Bible there is a collection of oriental and western readings, or, in other words, Babylonian and Palestinian, com municated by the editor, and the result of an ancient revision of the text. The number is about 216. Of the sources from which the collection was drawn we are entirely ignorant. Judging by the contents, it must be older than many observa tions made by the Masoretes. It should probably he referred to a period anterior to the introduction of the vowel system, as it contains no allusion to the vowels. It is certainly of considerable value, and proves that the oriental no less than the western Jews had always attended to the state of the sacred text. In addition to this list, we meet with another in the Rabbinical Bibles of Bomberg and Buxtorf, and in the sixth volume of the London Polyglott, belonging to the eleventh century, which owes its origin to the labours of Ben Asher and Ben Naph tali, the respective presidents of academies in Palestine and Babylon. These readings, with a single exception, refer to the vowels and accents. The vowel system had therefore been completed when this collection was made.
4. From the final settlement of the Masoretic text and the departure of the learned Yews from the east, till part of the Bible first appeared in print; or from A.D. 1040 till A.D. 1477.—The learned men belonging to the academies in Palestine and Baby lon were obliged by the Arabs, at the commence ment of the eleventh century, to leave their places of abode and settle elsewhere. They fled to Europe, especially to Spain, which country be came inconsequence the seat of the critical study of the Bible. But the studies of the learned Jews in Spain had comparatively small influence on the state of the text, because its general character had been already fixed. In their time transcribers allowed few departures from the Masora.
History of the printed text:—The psalter was the first part of the Hebrew Scriptures which was printed ; A.D. 1477, 4to (probably at Bologna). There are three early editions, from which all others have been taken;—I. That published at Soncino, A.D. 1488, which was the first entire copy of the Hebrew Scriptures ever printed. The text is fur nished with the points and accents, but we are ignorant of the MSS. employed by the editor. 2. The second great edition was that in the Com plutensian Polyglott, 1514-17, taken from seven MSS. 3. The third was the second Rabbinical Bible of Bomberg, superintended by R. Jacob Ben Chayim, Venice, 1525, 4 vols. fol. The text is formed chiefly after the Masora, but Spanish MSS. were used. A second edition of Ben Chay im's Bible was printed in 1547-49, 4 vols. folio,
being the third Rabbinical Bible issued from Bom berg's press. This is more copious and correct than the preceding. The Antwerp Polyglott (1569 72) has a text formed from the Complutensian and Bombergian.
Among editions furnished with a critical appara tus, that of Buxtorf, published at Basle, 1619, occupies a high place. It contains the commen taries of the Jewish Rabbis, Bashi, Abenesra, Kimchi, Levi Ben Gerson, and Saadias Haggaon. The appendix is occupied with the Jerusalem Tar gum, the great Masora corrected and amended , and the various readings of Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali. The most recent and complete Rab binical Bible is the Amsterdam edition superin tended by Moses Ben Simeon of Frankfurt, 4 vols. fol., 1724-27. It has various Rabbinical com mentaries not included in prior Bibles.
The principal editions with various readings are those of Seb. Miinster, Jablonski, Van der Hooght, J. H. Michaelis, C. F. Houbigant, and Benjamin Kennicott.
Minster's edition appeared at Basle in 1536, 2 vols. 4to. The text is supposed to be founded upon that of 4to, which resolves itself into the Soncino edition of 14S8.
Jablonski's edition was published at Berlin in 1699, Svo, and again at the same place in 1712, 12mo. It is founded on the best preceding edi tions, but chiefly the second of Leusden (1667). The editor also collated various MSS. The text is remarkably accurate.
Van der Hooght's edition appeared at Amster dam, 1705. The text is taken from Athias' (1667). The Masoretic readings are given in the margin ; and at the end are collected the various readings of the editions of Bomberg, Plantin, Athias, and others.
The edition published by J. H. Michaelis in 1720, is accompanied with the readings of twenty four editions which the editor examined, besides those of five MSS. in the library at Erfurt. There is a want of accuracy in his collations.
In 1753, C. F. Houbigant published a new edi tion in 4 vols. folio. The text is that of Van der Hooght, without the points. In the margin of the Pentateuch, the Samaritan readings are added. For it the editor collated, but hastily, twelve MSS. He has been justly blamed for his rash indulgence in conjectural emendation.
The first person who seemed to have a right idea of what was required, and did much towards its accomplishment, was a learned Jew of Mantua, Salomon Norzi. His work, containing a copious critical commentary on all the 0. T. books, the fruit of many years' labour, was published after his death at Mantua, in 1742, 4 vols. 4to. This critical commentary was the result of much reading and collation of MSS.