An Eleventh- or Twelfth-Century Masoretic Bible Codex (Jeremiah, Zechariah, Proverbs, and Chronicles): Its Place among Eastern Codices

This study analyzes BB (Bloomsbury Bible), an eleventh- or twelfth-century Eastern Masoretic Bible codex of Jeremiah, Zechariah, Proverbs, and Chronicles (all incomplete). Comparing BB in Jeremiah and Chronicles with other early Eastern Masoretic codices, we arrive at the following characteristics: (1) Text—BB is far from A (Aleppo Codex) (mostly plene-defective spelling), but not very far like the Ashkenazi based Soncino 1488 edition; other Eastern codices are closer to A; (2) Sections—BB is far from A; so, too, other Eastern codices; (3) Sedarim—BB, as well as other Eastern codices, reflect one tradition, with only minor variants; (4) Poetic texts—two layouts, depending on column width: (a) each line represents a verse, with a space before the second hemistich; (b) each line does not represent a verse; there is a space before each hemistich (wherever it occurs on the line). BB follows the second layout.