Ancient Texts: Site Recommendations for Online Resources on Bible Transmission and Translation

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Ancient Texts: Site recommendations for online resources on Bible transmission and translation. by Chris Hooker Aleppo codex: http://www.aleppocodex.org/ The most accurate text of the Hebrew Bible in the Masoretic tradition, which includes vowels and cantillation marks, the Aleppo codex has been of immense importance to Hebrew Bible scholars. It is free of some of the errors in the Leningrad codex and is considered the most accurate. Unfortunately, much of the codex was destroyed in a a fire. This website provides photographs of the entire codex so that students can see for themselves one of the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Codex Siniaticus: http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/ Codex Siniaticus is a Greek Manuscript containing the Old Testament (the Septuagint or “Old Greek” translation), the New Testament, and several non‐canoncial texts like the Shepherd of Hermas. It was discovered in the library of St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt in the Nineteenth century. Since the manuscript is now in several pieces in various parts of the globe, this online project seeks to bring the text back together in a digital format. This manuscript is extremely important as one of the oldest witnesses to the New Testament as well as one of the oldest copies of the Septuagint. A great website makes it easy to look at photographs of the codex and read about the history of one of the most important books in biblical studies. Dead Sea Scrolls: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/ The website that accompanied their exhibition at the library of Congress, this site provides lots of history about the Dead Sea scrolls and what scholars think about the community that produced them. It can serve as a great introduction to what the Dead Sea Scrolls are. Archaeology resources Biblical Archeology Review: http://www.bib‐arch.org/ This is a great resource for accessible articles about what is going on in the world of biblical archaeology. Some articles require purchase (online or in print) of the magazine, but others are available for free viewing. These can give students a taste for the issues and contributions of archeology in biblical studies. .

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