The advent of the printing press enabled the publishing of many significant Biblical texts which previously were limited by the laboriously time consuming tasks of the scribes. The Hebrew text was incredibly difficult to reproduce by hand and was primarily written on animal skin vellum portions sewn together to form scrolls. The work of Masoretic scribes that previously took months and years to produce could, with modern printing, be accomplished in weeks with one-hundred-fold the volume. Although the synagogue required Sifrei Torah (hand written according to Hebrew traditional restrictions), a printed version meant multitudes could now have access to a codex or book format, which encased the entire Hebrew Old Testament.
The first printed Hebrew type cut letters, in 1473, by Abraham Ben Hayyim, Dei Pinit (Tur Yoreh Deàh), was not a Biblical text, but it opened the door for others to follow. Many scripture portions; Psalms, Proverbs, and books of the law, followed. In May 24-31, 1494, the Socino family of printers produced the first complete Hebrew Bible.
In 1517, a distinctly Jewish edition of the Masoretic text was printed by Daniel Bomberg in Venice; the editor Felix Pratensis was converted to Christianity and for that cause many of the Jews refused to acknowledge this first Rabbinic Bible. In this edition, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles are divided into two books and Nehemiah is separated from Ezra.
The text of the four-volume set includes many individual elements; the Hebrew and Aramaic text of Tanakh (Old Testament) according to Massorah, – including Hebrew letters, vocalization, and Taamim (Contillian Morles), the Hebrew Massorah, the Masoretic notes on the Biblical text, the Aramaic Targumim; Targum Onkolos and Kashis commentary. If possible image of the Titles
This Bible was a masterpiece of typographical work. The printers used new type cut for the Hebrew letters, vowel, and accent points meticulously set to order. This text was the standard of all Hebrew texts until recent times . It is a true word for word translation of the oldest Hebrew codex, Aleppo.
The volumes are divided with the first containing –the Torah, five books of the Law. The second volume contains Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings. The third contains all of the former and latter prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. The fourth volume contains the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles. The text is consistent with the Aleppo, Leningrad, and the Dead Sea Scrolls and further identifies the faithfulness in transmission for inspiration and presentation of the Scriptures.
Six years after his first Rabbinic Bible in 1517, Daniel Bomberg printed a second edition in 1524-1525. No effort was spared to produce the finest Bible possible. It was printed in four volumes each with its own title page. The initial word of each book is set within a large decorative woodcut frame surrounded by a square made up of lines, varying in number, comprising the masoretic rubrics. At the end of each book is the masoretic summary. Each page is arranged in four columns, with the inner columns comprising the biblical text and the Aramaic translation, Targum Onkelos. The outer columns contain the commentaries of Rashi and ibn Ezra. Above and below the inner columns is the Masorah Magna and in the space between these two columns is the Masorah Parva. In the narrow outer column are portions of the Masorah Parva that did not fit between the text and Targum.
This time Bomberg emphasized that his printers were pious Jews, as was his scholarly editor, Jacob ben Haim ibn Adonijah. The second Rabbinic Bible became the determinative biblical text, first for Jews and subsequently for the scholarly world as well. All future editions reflect this outstanding edition. Bomberg's press was active until 1549 and more than two hundred Hebrew books were produced in his shop
The English Bible we have today was both penned and preserved by Jewish hands, and for that we owe the Hebrew people an eternal debt.
