This book, Israel , honors the memory of Professor Israel Yeivin – teacher, dear friend and colleague, meticulous and diligent scholar, a modest man who edified us with his noble character as well as his ideas. Israelis published by the Hebrew University Bible Project (HUBP), of which Prof. Yeivin was one of the first staff members. He worked in this capacity for many years, leaving his mark on the project. His scholarship focused on Masoretic manuscripts, particularly the Aleppo Codex. The fruits of his labors were published by the Bible Project and in his book on the Aleppo Codex. The wonderfully detailed notes he wrote for the Project on the thousands of erasures and corrections made in the text of the Aleppo Codex still remain unpublished. Most of these were made by the leading Masorete Aharon Ben-Asher.

This volume, now laid in front of the reader, completes a project started by the late professor Moshe Geshen-Gotstein over fifty years ago: The publishing of a scientific edition of the translation of the Bible into Palestinian-Syriac, based upon a renewed reading of its relics. Professor Goshen wished to produce an edition which will be able to serve both the scholars researching the Greek tradition – the translation to Palestinian-Syriac was made according to the Septuaginta – as well as the scholars of the various Assyrian dialects. The first part of the edition was initially published in 1973. The material for the second part was processed many years ago by Professor Goshen and his assistant, the late Hanan Shiron, yet owing to different circumstances was never published. The developments which occurred on the subject since then, have made it necessary to alter the original writings of Professor Goshen. After consulting with Professor Moshe Bar-Asher it was decided to publish the volume at its present form.

The base text of the edition reproduces the Aleppo Codex, the most important representative of the Tiberian masoretic text of the Ben Asher tradition. Underneath the text, four apparata of variant readings culled from various textual witnesses are presented: (I) the ancient Versions – the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Aramaic Targum Jonathan, and the Syriac Peshitta; (II) the extant fragments of scrolls from the Judaean Desert and biblical quotations found in rabbinic literature; (III) select Genizah fragments and 'extra-masoretic' Hebrew medieval manuscripts; (IV) various Hebrew manuscripts representing the development of the masoretic text up to Ben Hayyim's Biblica Rabbinica of 1514-5. Associate Editor-Galen Marquis. The Hebrew University Bible Project is an inter-disciplinary research project of the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, whose goal is to publish a comprehensive critical edition of the Bible

This is the first attempt to gather all the known remnants of the Old Testament in the Syropalestinian version. This first volume contains Pentateuch and Prophets together with a short introduction.

This volume marks the conclusion of the first step towards the publication of a new edition of the Hebrew Bible, presenting the known data concerning the biblical text, its variants and its development. The introduction discusses the history of the bible text, the basic text and the Massora, the version, the scrolls from the Judean Desert, medieval bible manuscripts and spelling, vowels and accents, and is followed by selected chapters from the Book of Isaiah.