Where Are the Textual Apparatuses?

Textual apparatuses (a.k.a. critical apparatuses) are essential tools for serious exegesis. They list alternate readings, the texts that contain those readings, and often the level of certainty the editors had in choosing the reading they went with.

Students of the biblical languages will notice, though, that the main editions of the Hebrew OT (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia) and the Greek NT (NA27 and UBS4) that come with our upper-end base packages lack the corresponding textual apparatuses. Without the apparatuses, you still need to reference your print volumes to check for variant readings. Are you stuck using part digital and part print for your study of the Hebrew and Greek texts?

There are two standard textual critical tools included in the Original Languages Library and Scholar’s Library: Gold.

• Tischendorf’s Novum Testamentum Graece: Apparatus Criticus (which comes bundled with Tischendorf’s GNT and his prolegomena)
• Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament

If you don’t own either of these base packages, you can either upgrade or buy the resources individually.

There are several other critical apparatuses available as add-on resources.

Apparatuses for the Hebrew Old Testament

• BHS Apparatus Criticus
• BHQ Apparatus Criticus (partial)

Both of these are included in SESB 2 and not available for individual sale. The BHS apparatus is also included in the Logos edition of SESB 1.

Apparatuses for the Greek New Testament

• NA27 Apparatus Criticus
• UBS4 Apparatus (not a separate resource)
• Majority Text Apparatus (includes the Majority Text GNT)

The NA27 apparatus is part of SESB 2 and the Logos edition of SESB 1. The UBS4 apparatus is available only in SESB 2. The Majority Text apparatus is bundled with the GNT.

It should be clear by now that if you really want to build the critical apparatuses section of your digital library, SESB 2 is a must.

For more on apparatuses and resources relating to textual criticism see the Critical Apparatuses section of the Product Guide for Greek Bible Texts & Tools. You’ll also want to check out the article “Critical Apparatuses: What and Why.”