The Book of Leviticus, Warsaw edition, 1860, title page

Book of Leviticus, Mikraot Gdolot, Warsaw edition, 1860, Page 1

A ''Mikraot Gedolot'' (''Great Scriptures''; in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ), often called the "

Rabbinic Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

Bible" in English, is an edition of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

(in Hebrew) that generally includes three distinct elements: * The biblical text according to the ''

masorah Masorah or Mesorah ( he, מסורה) refers either to the transmission of Jewish religious tradition, or to the tradition itself, and may refer to: * The Hebrew vowel points also known as niqqud. * Masoretic Text, the authoritative text of the Tan ...

'' in its letters, vocalization, and

cantillation marks Hebrew cantillation is the manner of chanting ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic Text of the Bible, to complem ...

* Aramaic

Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

* Jewish commentaries on the Bible (most common and prominent are medieval commentaries in the ''

peshat ''Peshat'' (also ''P'shat'', ) is one of the two classic methods of Jewish biblical exegesis, the other being Derash. While ''Peshat'' is commonly defined as referring to the surface or literal (direct) meaning of a text,Goldin, S. (2007). Unlocki ...

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

Commentaries

In addition to

Targum Onkelos Interlinear text of Hebrew Numbers 6.3–10 with British_Library.html"_;"title="Aramaic_Targum_Onkelos_from_the_British_Library">Aramaic_Targum_Onkelos_from_the_British_Library. Targum_Onkelos_(or_Onqelos;_Hebrew_language.html" "title="B ...

and

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

'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: *

Targum Jonathan Targum Jonathan (), otherwise referred to as Targum Yonasan/Yonatan, is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum (Aramaic translation) to the Nevi'im ("prophets"). It is not to be confused with "Targum Pseudo-Jonathan", an Aramaic translation of ...

(For the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

, Pseudo-Jonathan) *

Targum Yerushalmi Targum Jonathan is a western targum (interpretation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it wa ...

on the Torah *

Rashbam Samuel ben Meir (Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), after his death known as "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi". Biography He was born in the vicinity of Troye ...

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

on the Torah (Daat Zekenim) *

Chaim ibn Attar Chaim ibn Attar or Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar ( ar, حاييم بن موشي بن عطار, he, חיים בן משה בן עטר; b. - 7 July 1743) also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Torah, was a Talmudist ...

(Or Hachaim) * Abraham ibn Ezra *

David Kimhi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comm ...

(Rada"k) * Nachmanides *

Gersonides Levi ben Gershon (1288 – 20 April 1344), better known by his Graecized name as Gersonides, or by his Latinized name Magister Leo Hebraeus, or in Hebrew by the abbreviation of first letters as ''RaLBaG'', was a medieval French Jewish philosoph ...

Jacob ben Asher Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343), also known as Ba'al ha-Turim as well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash (Rabbeinu Asher), was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Ba'al ha-Turim ("Master of the Columns"), after ...

(Ba'al Haturim) *

Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (Obadja Sforno, Hebrew: עובדיה ספורנו) was an Italian rabbi, Biblical commentator, philosopher and physician. A member of the Sforno family, he was born in Cesena about 1475 and died in Bologna in 1550. Bio ...

Shabbethai Bass Shabbethai ben Joseph Bass (1641–1718) ( he, שבתי בן יוסף; also known by the family-name Strom), born at Kalisz, was the founder of Jewish bibliography, and author of the ''Siftei Chachamim'' supercommentary on Rashi's commentary on the ...

(Siftei Chakhamim) *

Obadiah of Bertinoro Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro ( he, ר׳ עוֹבַדְיָה בֵּן אַבְרָהָם מִבַּרְטֵנוּרָא; 1445 – 1515), commonly known as "The Bartenura", was a 15th-century Italian rabbi best known for his popular comme ...

(Emer Neka) *

Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 – 21 April, 1619) was a rabbi and Torah commentator, best known for his Torah commentary ''Keli Yekar''.Although most write this as ''Keli Yakar'', "the second word should be ''Yekar''" (יְקָר), as t ...

(Kli Yakar) * Don Isaac Abrabanel *

Joseph Kara Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Newer editions often include Baruch Halevi Epstein's Torah Temimah and other medieval commentaries, or more modern commentaries such as

Malbim Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Wisser (March 7, 1809 – September 18, 1879), better known as the Malbim ( he, מלבי"ם), was a rabbi, master of Hebrew grammar, and Bible commentator. The name ''Malbim'' was derived from the Hebrew initials ...

. Special editions exist of supercommentaries on Rashi or commentaries and targumim not included in older editions. Bomberg also included the

Masoretic The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

notes on the biblical text, but no modern edition does.

Editions of the Bomberg ''Mikraot Gedolot''

First published in 1516–17 by

Daniel Bomberg Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, the ''Mikraot Gedolot'' was edited by Felix Pratensis. The second edition was edited by the masoretic scholar Yaakov ben Hayyim in 1525. All of its elements – text,

, 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

Ben Asher Aaron ben Moses ben Asher (Hebrew: ; Tiberian Hebrew: ''ʾAhărōn ben Mōše ben ʾĀšēr''; 10th century, died c.960) was a Jewish scribe who lived in Tiberias in northern Israel and refined the Tiberian system of writing vowel sounds in Hebr ...

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 Mikra'ot 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. With regard to the biblical text, many of Ben Hayyim's errors were later corrected by

Menahem Lonzano Menahem ben Judah ben Menahem de Lonzano (), often Menahem di Lonzano, was a rabbi, Masoretic scholar, lexicographer, and poet. He died after 1608 in Jerusalem. Biography His origin is unknown, but it has been supposed that he was born in Italy. ...

and Shlomo Yedidiah Norzi. The ''Mikraot Gedolot'' of Ben Hayyim served as the source for the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

translation in the

King James Version of the Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

in 1611 and the Spanish

Reina-Valera The Reina–Valera is a Spanish translation of the Bible originally published in 1602 untilAnon. ''¡Refrescante y más brillante que nunca!'' Sociedades Bíblicas Unidas (1995) p.9 United Bible Societies in 1909 revised the earlier translation pro ...

translation. A scholarly reprint of the 1525 Ben-Hayyim Venice edition was published in 1972 by

Moshe Goshen-Gottstein Moshe Goshen-Gottstein (Hebrew: משה גושן-גוטשטיין) (6 September 1925 – 14 September 1991) was a German-born professor of Semitic linguistics and biblical philology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and director of the lex ...

.M. H. Goshen-Gottstein (ed.), Mikraot Gedolot, Biblia Rabbinica, A Reprint of the 1525 Venice Edition (Makor, Jerusalem, 1972)

Recent printed editions

Most editions until the last few decades, 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 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. Three of these editions are: * the

Bar Ilan Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

''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, Chronicles. * ''Torat Hayim'', published by Mosad ha-Rav Kook (15 vols 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

{{reflist

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

*
Mikraot Gedolot – Haketer
(

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

website) *
Reconstructing the Bible (haaretz.com website)

Wikimedia projects

Wikisource's Mikraot Gedolot is available in

(has the most content) and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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) * 1912 Vilna Edition *
Volume I
(

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

) *
Volume II
(

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

) *
Volume III
( Leviticus) *
Volume IV
(

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

) *
Volume V
(

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

) Ancient Hebrew texts Bible translations into Aramaic Bible versions and translations Biblical commentaries Biblical exegesis Books about the Bible Hebrew Bible Hebrew Bible studies Hebrew Bible versions and translations Hebrew Bible words and phrases Jewish education Jewish law Jewish prayer and ritual texts Jewish texts Jewish texts in Aramaic Law of Moses Midrashim Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic legal texts and responsa Rabbinic literature Religious books Sifrei Kodesh Talmud Targums Torah Torah study