Bible Review

“Austin” is what linguists call a “syncopation” of “Augustine.” It was commonly used in early English, as in the “Austin canons.” I suspect that Hopkins used it because he preferred its sweet, lingering sound.

See Harvey Minkoff, “The Aleppo Codex—Ancient Bible From the Ashes,” BR 07:04.

A number of sources state that the Leningrad Codex came from the Cairo Genizah. Manuscripts in the Second Firkovich Collection undoubtedly did come from the Cairo Genizah, but it is highly unlikely that this particular manuscript—a codex in superb condition—could ever have been in the Cairo Genizah, or in any other genizah.

See Raphael Levy, “First ‘Dead Sea Scroll’ Found in Egypt Fifty Years Before Qumran Discoveries,” BAR 08:05.

See Molly Dewsnap, “The Twins and the Scholar,” BAR 22:05.

Robert S. MacLennan, “In Search of the Jewish Diaspora,” BAR 22:02.

The authors’ definition of “near” is arbitrary. In many cases, the death dates found by this method are nearer to a different rabbi from the one to whom the death date applies.

According to the documentary hypothesis, the Pentateuch was composed at different stages in Israel’s history by at least four different sources, indicated by the letters J (Yahwist, or in German, Jahwist), E (Elohist), P (Priestly code) and D (Deuteronomist).