Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia (BHL)The BHL is a text based primarily on the Leningrad Codex; an earlier edition was adopted "as the [Israeli] Army edition given as an official gift to every [Jewish] recruit". He makes many insightful comments on the Leningrad Codex and its transcription problems in his Foreword excerpted in indented blocks below.
Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, USA, 2001
ISBN 1-56563-089-0 (Out of print, available used.)
We are not here concerned with the question which of the two is preferable as far as the text is concerned, that is to say, which one is closer to the original Ben Asher text in minutest detail. There is no need here to become involved in clarifying this important question since the Aleppo Codex is incomplete; basing oneself on it, one would anyway have to complete about thirty-five percent of it according to some other manuscript, and such an edition would once again be an eclectic text and not all of one piece. To the question which manuscript is likely to serve as the basis for a Bible edition reflecting the Ben Asher text, the answer is therefore unequivocal, and indeed, the Leningrad Codex was chosen to serve that purpose. Its closeness to the Aaron ben Asher text is not its only advantage; it is also the oldest complete Bible manuscript in our possession.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether the manuscript offers the commonly accepted reading or a different reading which, though possible in itself, was perhaps not intended by the scribe but may be read only because of the state of the manuscript. The most problematic decision is in those cases where a blurred reading in the manuscript gives an intrinsically possible text, even though it is unusual, and one does not know whether it is a fault in the manuscript and the intended reading is the usual one or if perhaps the scribe intended an unusual reading. ... Some of our hesitations and difficulties will be recognized in the list of "Manuscript Variants" in Appendix A, pp. 1229-37. ... Despite the importance and authority of the Leningrad Codex on which we base ourselves, we must not follow it slavishly and blindly nor copy obvious mistakes even if they were clearly produced by the scribe himself. The thin dividing line between errors that the editor must correct and the variant readings that he must reproduce exactly as they stand constitutes the burden whose weight can be fully appreciated only by those who have themselves experienced it.Changes to the UXLC text often refer both to the BHL and BHL Appendix A to provide perspective.
... But no manuscript of Aaron ben Asher's Bible was known. The aspirations toward it never got beyond gleaning crumbs of information about readings from other secondhand sources, and the choice among the variants was arrived at by reasoning. However, masoretic tradition and logical reasoning are hardly congenial bedfellows. Numerous Bible editions in the last few generations, and also in our own, were prepared in this manner-collections of readings and a reasoned decision. It is as if we were to examine the biblical vocalization according to our rules of grammar and the biblical accents according to our accent rules. This is putting the cart before the horse since the rules of grammar and accents derive from the accurate Bible text. Truth to tell, so long as Ben Asher's text was unknown there was no other way.The UXLC transcribes the text as seen from photographs; it does not base the transcription on cantillation rules.
Since there is usually no unequivocal distinction in the manuscript between a merkha and a gaʿya, both being a perpendicular, straight line underneath the word, we treated this straight line as a merkha not only in the accented syllable, but also in a word with tevir with no preceding conjunctive accent, when only a mobile shewa separates the line from the accent.The UXLC does not implement this cantillation rule. A vertical line is always treated as a meteg in the UXLC.
Matters become even more complicated in what concerns the corrections made in the manuscript. As is well known, the Leningrad Codex is a corrected document, which has been adapted to Ben Asher's readings by a large number of emendations. These are not always absolutely clear, especially when observed through a photographic reproduction of the manuscript. The worst problem is the erasures of marks in the original that have not always been carried out with a firm hand. In such cases, the photographs may increase the illusion. Sometimes, the better the photographic technique, the more our eye may be led astray. ... This is a result of the better photographic technique that penetrates deep under the surface of the parchment and catches the imbedded ink, untouched by the scratches of the erasure. Consequently, a better photograph, which in most cases is of much help, may in some other cases interfere with a clear decision.
13 October 2022