The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica

Major revision of a landmark work in Old Testament scholarship

Ernst Würthwein’s introduction to the Biblia Hebraica has long served as a textbook for generations of students interested in the history of the Old Testament text and the problems of textual criticism. From its first appearance in 1952 to the fifth German edition in 1988, the book was faithfully updated by Würthwein himself in light of new research. But now a new edition of “Würthwein” is due.

While staying true to the original structure and character of Würthwein’s classic work, Alexander Fischer has rewritten the text completely to bring it up to date with the new Quinta edition of Biblia Hebraica. Besides updating information throughout, this edition includes a new chapter on the texts from the Qumran. This third edition of The Text of the Old Testament will be an indispensable resource for serious students of the Biblia Hebraica and Old Testament exegesis.

Ernst Wurthwein (1909-1996) was professor emeritus of Old Testament at Philipps-Universitat Marburg in Germany.

Alexander Achilles Fischer is professor of Old Testament at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Thuringia, Germany.

Erroll F. Rhodes (1924–2018) earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He taught for fifteen years at St. Paul’s University (Rikkyo) in Tokyo and later served as resident biblical scholar at the American Bible Society in New York. He published English translations of numerous works, including Translation Criticism: The Potentials and Limitations by Katharina Reiss and The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica by Ernst Würthwein.