Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible

Rating:
Summary: The best in its field
Review: It is a long time since a decent book on Old Testament textual studies appeared. Classics like those by Ginsburg and B J Roberts are largely obsolete and anyway almost impossible to obtain. There are some brief introductions around, but they do not begin to match the depth and erudition of this book. Tov is a brilliant scholar, and one of the World's leading authorities on the Septuagint and the Dead Sea scrolls, so he is well qualified to write this book.

Rating:
Summary: Scarcely updated, but still superb
Review: The reviews of the first edition were glowing, and rightly so because this is a superb book. Tov is a world authority in his subject, and has the ability to explain his complex technical subject with great lucidity. This second edition is, however, almost a page for page reprint of the first edition and has only a few small revisions. This is disappointing, and we look forward to a more thoroughly revised third edition in the next few years. Anyone with a first edition need not bother with this one. However, everyone else with more than a beginner's interest in the subject should buy this book now.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Handbook
Review: This book outlines the principles of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Especially helpful are discussions of how this field is different than that of Greek New Testament textual criticism.

Note that this book is more of a manual for how to do textual criticism than it is a summary of the current state of knowledge in the field (although it does have a fair amount of that too).