1525 ADCode: BOMBiblical Hebrew & Aramaic

Bomberg Second Rabbinic Bible (Mikraot Gedolot)

Edited by Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah and printed by Daniel Bomberg in Venice; standard Masoretic Hebrew text for centuries.

Historical Sources & Antecedents

What Texts and Translations Did This Version Use?

The foundational manuscripts, earlier translations, and polyglots consulted during compilation.

This is an original manuscript or ancient textual witness with no prior recorded translation parent.

Subsequent Lineage & Revisions

Who In The Future Used This Translation?

Modern revisions, authorized successors, and descendants shaped by this text.

1526 ADoriginal language print

Tyndale New Testament & Pentateuch

Tyndale translated the Hebrew Old Testament (Pentateuch & Jonah) directly from the Bomberg Rabbinic Bible printed in Venice.

1611 ADoriginal language print

King James Version (Authorized Version)

The KJV Old Testament companies at Westminster and Oxford used the Bomberg Second Rabbinic Bible (ben Hayyim Masoretic text) as their Hebrew foundation.

Curatorial Commentary

Historical Context & Textual Significance

Produced on Daniel Bomberg's legendary Venetian Hebrew presses, this landmark four-volume folio edition gathered the Hebrew text with Masoretic notes, Targums (Aramaic paraphrases), and rabbinic commentaries (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Kimhi). Jacob ben Hayyim systematically cataloged the ancient Masorah, establishing the definitive printed Hebrew text used by Christian Reformers and Jewish communities worldwide.

Textual Legacy & Impact:

The direct Hebrew Old Testament source used by William Tyndale and the King James translators for translating the Old Testament.

Where Can You View Original Surviving Copies Today?

Known physical copies preserved in world archives and library vaults.

British Library, London

National Library of Israel, Jerusalem