BibleOld

BibleOld is an online scholarly database and digital archive dedicated to the textual history of biblical literature, with an emphasis on the Old Testament and its ancient witnesses. The project aggregates manuscript images, critical editions, translations, and scholarly apparatus to support textual criticism, philology, and related fields.

The collection covers Hebrew manuscripts from the Masoretic tradition, ancient translations such as the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch, and early versions including the Peshitta and Latin witnesses. It also includes fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and other early witnesses. Materials are prepared with metadata, provenance information, and high-resolution images to enable study and comparison across textual families, languages, and time periods.

Key features include full-text search, browseable manuscript catalogs, image views of primary witnesses, a diplomatic and critical textual apparatus, multilingual alignment, and references linked to scholarly editions. An application programming interface allows researchers to extract data for analysis, while licensing and access policies vary by item to balance open access with rights management.

Governance is typically provided by a collaboration of universities, libraries, and research institutes, with an editorial board and adherence to established standards for transcription, dating, and provenance. The platform aims to document sources, provide transparent methodology, and encourage scholarly contribution.

BibleOld is used by researchers, students, clergy, and translators for comparative studies, pedagogy, and the preparation of critical editions. See also textual criticism, Septuagint, Masoretic Text, and Dead Sea Scrolls.