Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: 
A Reader’s Edition
ISBN: 9781598563429
By: Donald R. Vance, George Athas, and Yael Avrahami
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft/Hendrickson Publishers, 2014
Review by: David Burnett
After surviving your first year of Biblical Hebrew, many are anxious to jump right into reading their Hebrew Bible but lack the vocabulary proficiency to make any real progress. The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: A Reader’s Edition is the perfect tool for you. For students, pastors, and scholars alike, the BHS Reader provides features necessary for those with a basic understanding of the language to begin their foray into the Hebrew Bible:
– Complete text of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, checked against the Leningrad Codex
– All words that occur fewer than 70 times are parsed and contextually defined in the apparatus
– Glossary listing of all other words
– Improved layout of poetic texts
– All weak verb forms are parsed
The text is clean and easy to to read, though the “improved” layout of the more poetic texts can take some getting used to. The parsing at the bottom of the page has a bit of a learning curve as well. Zondervan’s A Readers Hebrew Bible (which we also carry) may have a bit clearer vocabulary and parsing section for some, while the text of the BHS Reader may be a bit more crisp and clear. The BHS Reader also includes a helpful paradigms section at the back of the bible that covers all the major conjugations for reference.
German Bible Society along with Hendrickson has produced a helpful resource for all students and teachers of Hebrew that wish to dive into their Hebrew Bible/Old Testament with assistance. Make sure and come by the DTS Book Center and pick up your copy today!
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