The Definitive Tanakh
BHS is the standard version of the Hebrew Bible for scholarly study. The forewords are in multiple languages (including English) and there is an English and German key to Latin words, abbreviations and symbols used in the body. Otherwise, some acquaintance with Latin and Greek is useful, but not essential. It should go without saying that this is NOT a book for anyone ignorant of Hebrew!
This paperback contains 1574 pages of Hebrew text and 70 pages of preliminary text, so this is a hefty book, but it is probably still fair to call it pocket-sized - as long as you have big pockets. The book lies open easily, except for pages very close to each end. The Hebrew text is commendably clear and easy to read, particularly in respect of the easily confusible vowel points. The Masorah Parva is provided in the side margins, with references for the Masorah Major below the text. Critical apparatus (in German, Latin and Greek) is at the foot of each page; this is often cryptic! There is enough white-space in the margins for personal notes, if that is your custom. My copy contained a bookmark listing, on one side, accents used in the poetic books and, on the other side, accents used in the other books. Overall, I thought this reference work good value for money.
