If you have an eReader and want to be able to read the Hebrew text, a brand new resource by Miklal Software is available now for Barnes & Noble’s Nook. A Kindle version, I’m told, will be available soon UPDATE: Kindle Hebrew Bible is available now. (Full disclosure: the Kindle version includes a comprehensive Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic glossary I compiled.)
Below is a short review of the Nook version without the glossary for those who may be interested.
Synopsis (from the book description):
Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) is a complete Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in its original Hebrew and Aramaic shown in an aesthetically pleasing Hebrew/Aramaic script. It contains all of the consonants, vowels (nequddot), and cantillation marks.
This digital edition of the Hebrew Bible follows the text of the Leningrad Codex (Codex Leningradensis) as digitized by the J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research, version 4.14. This is the same codex used in printing Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Biblia Hebraica Quinta.
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Overview:
One could not ask for a more visually pleasing text from which to read the Hebrew Bible. The few minor peccadilloes are overwhelmed by the tremendous quality and value of the book. This offering provides a giant leap forward for eReaders and a must have for everyone from the casual student to the serious scholar.
In the Beginning:
I purchased the book on BN.com. After an initial failed attempt, I was able to download the book over the Nook 3G network in about 3-4 mins. It opened quickly without difficulty thereafter. After a detailed description of the five different navigation methods for getting around the massive volume (4000 total pages!), the Hebrew text began as one would expect with the first chapter of Genesis as one would find in a standard printed edition but without Masoretic notes.
Font:
Overall one could not hope for a more aesthetically pleasing font type or size. The font-type is similar to that used in BHS and BHQ and the font-size is comparable to a large-print edition of BHS—easily readable when placed at arms distance. This is important as the font size cannot be varied dynamically.
The screen holds on average seven verses (approx. seven words across each line by fourteen lines), and each number is amply sized to find a specific verse when scanning down.
As claimed in the description, the consonants, vowels, and cantillation marks are all displayed. They are properly oriented on the screen in right-to-left fashion with each vowel and accent appropriately placed as one would find in a printed version. Overall the spacing is outstanding. An overly scrupulous reader may notice an ever so slight extra space with a very small number of character combinations; however, these minor variations do not detract at all from the pleasing format of the text.
Navigation:
The pages are ordered in a recto-verso orientation typical of an English book (so the right arrow navigates to the next page and the left arrow to the previous). This may at first bother some readers as being backwards from the typical printed Hebrew version which is verso-recto, but it follows the regular navigation orientation of the eReader format.
Possibly the main drawback to the volume is the time it takes to turn the pages or jump to a specific passage. A page turn between chapters is executed quickly in about a second, but when moving from one chapter to another it takes 3-4 seconds. Navigation back and skipping to a specific verse requires even longer. Page turning speed, of course, is a broader problem for eReaders, but hopefully continued software and hardware developments will decrease this issue in the near future.
