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A Mikraot Gedolot (Hebrew: מקראות גדולות, lit. 'Great Scriptures'), often called a "Rabbinic Bible" in English,^[1] is an edition of the Hebrew Bible that generally includes three distinct elements:

The Masoretic Text in its letters, niqqud (vocalisation marks), and cantillation marks
A Targum or Aramaic translation
Jewish commentaries on the Bible; most common and prominent are medieval commentaries in the peshat tradition

Numerous editions of the Mikraot Gedolot have been and continue to be published.

Commentaries

In addition to Targum Onkelos and Rashi's commentary, the standard Jewish commentaries on the Hebrew Bible, the Mikraot Gedolot will include numerous other commentaries. For instance, the Romm publishing house edition of the Mikraot Gedolot contains the following additional commentaries:^[2]

Newer editions often include Baruch Epstein's Torah Temimah and other medieval commentaries, or more modern commentaries such as Malbim. Special editions exist of supercommentaries on Rashi or commentaries and targumim not included in older editions. Bomberg also included the Masoretic notes on the biblical text, but no modern edition does.

Editions of the Bomberg Mikraot Gedolot

First published in 1516–17 by Daniel Bomberg in Venice, the Mikraot Gedolot was edited by Felix Pratensis. The second edition was edited by the Masoretic scholar Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah in 1525.^[3]

All of its elements (Masoretic Text, Targum, and commentaries) were based upon the manuscripts that ben Hayyim had at hand (although he did not always have access to the best ones according to some, Ginsburg and some others argued that it was a good representation of the Aaron ben Moses ben Asher text).

The Mikraot Gedolot of ben Hayyim, though hailed as an extraordinary achievement, was riddled with thousands of technical errors. Objections were also raised by the Jewish readership, based on the fact that the very first printing of the Mikraot Gedolot was edited by Felix Pratensis, a Jew converted to Christianity. Furthermore, Bomberg, a Christian, had requested an imprimatur from the Pope. Such facts were not compatible with the supposed Jewish nature of the work; Bomberg had to produce a fresh edition under the direction of acceptable Jewish editors. Nevertheless, this first edition served as the textual model for nearly all later editions until modern times. Concerning the biblical text, many of ben Hayyim's errors were later corrected by Menahem Lonzano and Jedidiah Norzi.

The Mikraot Gedolot of Ben Hayyim served as the source for the Hebrew Bible translation in the King James Version in 1611 and the Spanish Reina Valera translation.^[4]

A scholarly reprint of the 1525 Ben-Hayyim Venice edition was published in 1972 by Moshe Goshen-Gottstein.^[5]

Recent printed editions

Most editions until the last few decades,^[when?] and many editions even today, are reprints of or based on late nineteenth century Eastern European editions, which are in turn based more or less on the Ben Hayyim edition described above.

In the last generation,^[when?] fresh editions of the Mikraot Gedolot have been published, based directly on manuscript evidence, principally (for the biblical text and Masoretic notes) the Keter Aram Tzova, the manuscript of the Tanakh kept by the Jews of Aleppo. These also have improved texts of the commentaries based on ancient manuscripts. Four of these editions are:

the Bar Ilan Mikraot Gedolot ha-Keter, ed. Menaḥem Cohen, complete in 21 volumes: Genesis (2 vols.), Exodus (2 vols.), Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua & Judges (1 vol.), Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Minor Prophets, Psalms (2 vols.), Proverbs, Job, Five Megillot (1 vol.), Daniel-Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
Torat Hayim, published by Mossad Harav Kook, with 15 volumes thus far: Torah, Psalms, Proverbs, and five Megillot, plus several non-biblical texts.
Chorev Mikraot Gedolot, published by Hotzaat Chorev (now complete).
Mikraot Gedolot, published by Artscroll Mesorah

References

^ Martin Sicker An introduction to Judaic thought and rabbinic literature 2007 Page 158 "Moreover, the so-called Rabbinic Bible, the Mikraot Gedolot ("Great Scriptures"), may have as many as ten different commentaries, and notes on the commentaries accompany the text, thus providing a range of possible interpretations of ..."
^ Mikraot Gedolot: Vayikra (in Hebrew and Aramaic). Vilna: Romm Publishing House. 1899. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
^ "Jordan S. Penkower – Some Notes Regarding the First & Second Rabbinic Bibles – The Seforim Blog". 5 March 2008.
^ Schmid, Konrad; Schröter, Jens (2021). The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture. Harvard University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-674-26939-2.
^ M. H. Goshen-Gottstein (ed.), Mikraot Gedolot, Biblia Rabbinica, A Reprint of the 1525 Venice Edition (Makor, Jerusalem, 1972)

Sources

Menaḥem Cohen, "Introduction to the Haketer edition," in Mikra'ot Gedolot Haketer: A revised and augmented scientific edition of "Mikra'ot Gedolot" based on the Aleppo Codex and Early Medieval MSS (Bar-Ilan University Press, 1992).

External links

Wikimedia projects

Wikisource's Mikraot Gedolot is available in Hebrew (has the most content) and English.

Editions available online

The Second Rabbinic Bible (Mikra'ot Gdolot)
Mikraot Gedolot AlHaTorah – free customizable online edition, including up to 26 different commentators, some newly published or in critical editions
The Second Rabbinic Bible (Mikraot Gedolot) (מקראות גדולות) Volume I, Yaakov ben Hayyim, 1524;
digital copy: Yaakov ben Hayyim, 1524: The Second Rabbinic Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy only)