TheLeningrad Codex (Latin:Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book];Hebrew:כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest known complete manuscript of theHebrew Bible in Hebrew, using theMasoretic Text andTiberian vocalization. According to itscolophon, it was made inCairo in AD 1008 (or possibly 1009).[1]
Some have proposed that the LeningradCodex was corrected against theAleppo Codex, a slightly earlier manuscript that was partially lost in the 20th century. However,Paul E. Kahle argues that the Leningrad manuscript was more likely based on other, lost manuscripts by theben Asher family.[2] The Aleppo Codex is several decades older, but parts of it have been missing since the1947 anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo, making the Leningrad Codex the oldest complete codex of the Tiberian mesorah that has survived intact to this day.
In modern times, the Leningrad Codex is significant as the Hebrew text reproduced inBiblia Hebraica (1937),Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (1977), andBiblia Hebraica Quinta (2004–present). It also serves as a primary source for the recovery of details in the missing parts of the Aleppo Codex.
The Leningrad Codex (acodex is a handwritten book bound at one side, as opposed to ascroll) is so named because it has been housed at theNational Library of Russia inSaint Petersburg since 1863 (before 1917 named Imperial Public Library). In 1924, after theRussian Revolution, Petrograd (formerly Saint Petersburg) was renamed Leningrad, and, because the codex was used as the basic text for theBiblia Hebraica since 1937, it became internationally known as the "Leningrad Codex". Although the city's name was restored to the original St Petersburg after thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the National Library of Russia requested that "Leningrad" be retained in the name of the codex. Nonetheless, the Codex is occasionally referred to as theCodex Petropolitanus,Petrograd Codex,Codex Petersburgensis, orSt. Petersburg Codex. This is ambiguous as, since 1876, these appellations refer to a different biblical codex (MS. Heb B 3) which is even older (AD 916), but contains only thelater Prophets.
The biblical text as found in the codex contains the Hebrew letter-text along with Tiberianvowels andcantillation signs. In addition, there aremasoretic notes in the margins. There are also various technical supplements dealing with textual and linguistic details, many of which are painted in geometrical forms. The codex is written on parchment and bound in leather.
The Leningrad Codex, in extraordinarily pristine condition after a millennium, also provides an example of medieval Jewish art. Sixteen of the pages contain decorative geometric patterns that illuminate passages from the text. Thecarpet page shows a star with the names of the scribes on the edges and a blessing written in the middle.
The order of the books in the Leningrad Codex follows the Tiberian textual tradition, which is also that of the later tradition ofSephardic biblical manuscripts. This order for the books differs markedly from that of most printed Hebrew bibles for the books of theKetuvim. In the Leningrad Codex, the order of the Ketuvim is: Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah.The full order of the books is given below.
According to itscolophon, thecodex was copied inCairo[3] from manuscripts written byAaron ben Moses ben Asher. It has been claimed to be a product of the ben Asher scriptorium itself; however, there is no evidence that ben Asher ever saw it. Unusually for a masoretic codex, the same man (Samuel ben Jacob) wrote the consonants, the vowels and the Masoretic notes. In its vocalization system (vowel points andcantillation) it is considered by scholars to be the most faithful representative of ben Asher's tradition apart from the Aleppo Codex (edited by ben Asher himself). Its letter-text is not perfect, however, and contradicts its own masoretic apparatus in hundreds of places.[a] There are numerous alterations and erasures, and it was suggested byMoshe Goshen-Gottstein that an existing text not following ben Asher's rules was heavily amended so as to make it conform to these rules.
According to several colophons, the patron and likely first owner of manuscript was Mevorach benYosef ha-Kohen, about whom no further information is known. On folio 1 recto, a note records that the manuscript was sold in 1134 in Fustat (Old Cairo) to Mazliach ha-Kohen, who was the head of the yeshiva Geon Yaakov.[4]
The codex is now preserved in theNational Library of Russia, accessioned as "Firkovich B 19 A". Its former owner, theCrimean Karaite collectorAbraham Firkovich, left no indication in his writings where he had acquired the codex, which was taken toOdessa, in the Russian Empire, in 1838 and later transferred to the Imperial Library in St Petersburg.
In 1935, the Leningrad Codex was lent to the Old Testament Seminar of the University of Leipzig for two years whilePaul E. Kahle supervised its transcription for the Hebrew text of the third edition ofBiblia Hebraica (BHK), published in Stuttgart, 1937. The codex was also used forBiblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) in 1977, and is being used forBiblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ).
As an original work by Tiberian masoretes, the Leningrad Codex was older by several centuries than the other Hebrew manuscripts which had been used for all previous editions of printed Hebrew bibles untilBiblia Hebraica.
The Westminster Leningrad Codex is a digital version of the Leningrad Codex maintained by theJ. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research. This is a verified version of the Michigan-Claremont text, transcribed from BHS at theUniversity of Michigan in 1981–1982 under the direction of H. Van Dyke Parunak (of the University of Michigan) and Richard E. Whitaker (of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University) with funding from the Packard Foundation and the University of Michigan,[5][better source needed] with further proofreading and corrections. The version includes transcription notes and tools for analyzing syntax.
The Leningrad Codex also served as the basis for two modern Jewish editions of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh):[citation needed]
It was also used as the basis forEtz Hayim, thehumash of theConservative movement.[7]
(Contrary to popular belief as previously stated on this page, theKoren editions of Tanakh are not based primarily on the Leningrad Codex, but on the second editionMikraot Gedolot published byDaniel Bomberg in Venice in 1525, with changes made to the text based on a variety of older manuscripts which are not named by the publisher.[8] It is possible, as some have claimed, that the Leningrad Codex was among those used, but it is not specifically named by the publisher.)
For minute masoretic details, however, Israeli and Jewish scholars have shown a marked preference for modern Hebrew editions based upon the Aleppo Codex.[citation needed] These editions use the Leningrad Codex as the most important source (but not the only one) for the reconstruction of parts of the Aleppo Codex that have been missing since 1947.[citation needed]
As explained in theContents section above, the order of the books in the Leningrad Codex follows the Tiberian textual tradition and is different from most modern Hebrew bibles:
TheTorah:
TheNevi'im:
TheKetuvim
