The Sub Loco Notes in the Torah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (review)

Abstract

Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 156 Reviews of the scribes has made it into a lie?"). In Isa 10:1 we find the following complaint: "Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes." These passages seem to reflect a "realist" conception that laws were nonnally made, not by divine communication or some idealistic and immutable principle, but by rulers pursuing their own mutable interests. Presumably, these biblical authors would like to refonn the laws and the principles in question. Although the responses to Westbrook seem decisive, this book will not be the last word on the debate. However, this is an important collection of essays which should be read by all those interested in current issues in biblical and cuneifonn law. Heclor Avalos Iowa Slale University Ames, IA 50011 THE SUB LOCO NOTES IN THE TORAH OF BIBLIA HEBRAICA STUTTGARTENSIA. By Daniel S. Mynatt. BIBAL Dissertation Series 2. Pp. x + 278. N. Richland Hills, TX: BIBAL Press, 1994. In editing the masora of the Leningrad codex for the publication of the BHS, Gerard Weil had provided the nomenclature sub loco ("in the/this place") for several types of problematic notes encountered in the Masora parva. He had intended to provide a critical analysis of these notes in the third volume of the Massorah Gedolah, but he died after publishing only one volume. Daniel Mynatt, who presently serves as Assistant Professor of Religion at Anderson College in Anderson, South Carolina, has diligently provided a user-friendly volume containing a textual analysis of each of the 297 sub loco notes in the Torah of the BHS. The current work is a revision of his 1992 doctoral dissertation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the introduction, the author provides methodological considerations necessary to interpreting the data. The initial step was to compare the sub loco note in the Masora parva of the Leningrad codex with that of BHS, with clarification of legibility from Kittel's Biblia Hebraica 3 where necessary . Analysis is made ofWeil's alterations based on the sub loco notes, and then each is discussed "within the context of its Mp text feature:' Mynatt notes a number of the organizational problems faced by the interpreter of the masoretic apparatus, such as the general rule that the Masora magna list Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 157 Reviews numbers are cited only once per chapter on a page. Likewise, in contra texturn situations where the Masorah parva differs from the text of the Leningrad codex (in which case Weil had corrected the Masorah parva note), Mynatt evaluates each on the basis of its own merit. He also rightly notes the variant orthographic and notation traditions among the masoretic schools regarding the plene/defective readings. Also included are variations from other Hebrew Bibles, such as the Second Rabbinic Bible, in his discussion of the sub loco notes. Chapter Two contains a "Catalog of Entries" of all 297 sub loco notes with a extensive discussion of each entry. The fonnat of each entry is: (1) Statement of Location-note number according to the order found in the biblical text, the biblical citation, and the index number for the Masorah parva; (2) Evidence for Analysis-the text of BHS, the Masorah parva note of BHS with translation and explanation of the symbols utilized, as well as the Masorah parva of the Leningrad codex with translation and explanation; and (3) Discussion of the Masorah parva of both texts, including a listing of other occurrences of the same tenn, phrase, spelling, etc. The value of Mynatt's reference work is in the text-critical approach to understanding the variations and explanatory notes referenced in the Masorah parva. Corrections and additions are made by the author to Weil or the Masorah parva of either text where applicable. Mynatt attempts to trace the history of the variant in order to provide a possible explanation for the given reference. The Masorah parva of the Aleppo codex is provided at the bottom of the entry if such is extant. In Chapter Three, "Classification of Errors in the Sub Loco Notes," Mynatt created a system of categorizing the types of errors "based on the circumstances which caused the errors" (p. 223). Two broad...