Preface
The Masoretic English Tanakh presents the Hebrew Bible in English in the traditional Jewish order of Torah, Prophets and Writings. Its base is the 2026 edition of the Berean Standard Bible (BSB; public domain), revised so that the main text renders the Masoretic Text alone.
Text.
Where the Masoretic manuscripts differ, the Leningrad Codex governs. Aleppo Codex readings are given in the notes where the English would differ. Readings from the Septuagint (LXX), the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), the Syriac, Vulgate and Targums, from parallel passages, and from conjectural emendation appear only in the footnotes. The Masoretic vowels govern, and no word is redivided in the text.
Ketiv and Qere.
Where the written (Ketiv) and read (Qere) forms differ, the text follows the reading adopted by the NJPS translation (1985), or the Qere where that is unclear. The other reading is noted where the English would differ.
Translation.
Where the BSB offers alternatives, whether marked “Or” or “Literally,” the text uses whichever rendering is closest to the NJPS, which was used for comparison only. The 1917 JPS transla- tion served as a third point of comparison. No wording of either translation has been copied. As in Jewish translations, pronouns referring to God are not capitalized; capitals are kept for the divine name and for titles of God such as Lord, Holy One and Rock.
Poetry and lists.
Poetic passages are set in lines, and lists (such as genealogies) as indented items, following the layout of the 2026 BSB.
The divine name.
LORD (or GOD, after “Lord”) in small capitals represents the divine name YHWH, which the Masoretic Text points to be read Adonai (or Elohim); so throughout.
Numbering.
Chapters and verses follow the Hebrew numbering. In Psalms the superscription is counted as part of the text, so verse numbers there often run one higher than in English Bibles. Footnotes. Each note begins with its chapter and verse. The usual forms are:
• LXX reading: the italic words give the reading of another witness (here the Septuagint); the text always follows the Masoretic Text, so it is not named.
• Qere; Ketiv reading: the text follows the Qere, and the italic words give the Ketiv.
• Or rendering: another way to translate the same Hebrew.
• Literally rendering: a word-for-word rendering of the Hebrew.