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Course 4 · Lesson 2.1

The Hebrew Bible and the work of the Masoretes

11 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 4 outline

Module 1: How the Canon Formed

  1. What a canon is, and what canonical means
  2. The Old Testament canon: Law, Prophets and Writings
  3. The New Testament canon: from gospels and letters to a list
  4. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant canons compared

Module 2: The Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint

  1. The Hebrew Bible and the work of the Masoretes
  2. Origin and character of the Septuagint
  3. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the state of the Old Testament text
  4. How New Testament writers quote the Old Testament

Module 3: Transmission of the New Testament Text

  1. Copying by hand: papyri, codices and scribes
  2. Manuscript traditions: Alexandrian, Western and Byzantine texts
  3. Kinds of variants and how they arise
  4. The principles of textual criticism
  5. Reading a critical apparatus and a translation footnote

Module 4: Reading Responsibly: Exegesis and Method

  1. Exegesis and eisegesis with worked examples
  2. Source, form and redaction criticism: what each asks
  3. Strengths and limits of the historical method
  4. Literary and canonical reading

Module 5: Meaning Beyond the Surface: Typology, Allegory and Genre

  1. Typology in the New Testament and the fathers
  2. Allegory and its critics: Alexandria and Antioch
  3. Reading by genre: narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, gospel and letter
  4. Setting, authorship and audience as questions to ask of any passage

Module 6: Christian Approaches to Interpretation

  1. The fourfold sense of Scripture in the medieval church
  2. Reformation principles: Scripture, clarity and the grammatical and historical sense
  3. Orthodox and Catholic approaches: Scripture within Tradition
  4. Historical scholarship and theological interpretation in conversation

Module 7: Writing an Exegesis

  1. Choosing a passage and framing a question
  2. Observation and context: what the text says and where it stands
  3. Using commentaries and reference works without being led by them
  4. Writing up, checking conclusions and revising

All courses

Program / Course 4: Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics / Lesson 2.1

What you will learn

  • Explain what the Masoretic Text is and who the Masoretes were.
  • Describe how Hebrew was written without vowels and how the Masoretes preserved the reading tradition.
  • Name the two great medieval codices on which modern editions rest.
  • Say why the Masoretic Text is the base of most Protestant Old Testaments and also not the only witness.

The big idea

The standard Hebrew text of the Old Testament is called the Masoretic Text. It was fixed in its present form by Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes, who worked mainly in Tiberias and elsewhere between roughly the seventh and tenth centuries of the Christian era. They did not invent the text. They guarded a consonantal text received from earlier generations and added marks to record how it was read aloud. Their care is the reason we have a stable Hebrew text, though older witnesses show it was not the only form in circulation.

Key terms

Masoretic Text (MT)
The traditional Hebrew text of the Old Testament, with vowel marks, accents and notes, as handed down by the Masoretes.
Masoretes
Jewish scribes and scholars of the early medieval period who copied, pointed and annotated the Hebrew Bible. The name comes from the Hebrew masorah, meaning tradition.
Consonantal text
The text of ancient Hebrew writing, which recorded consonants only. Readers supplied the vowels from memory of the spoken language.
Vocalization
The system of dots and dashes added to the consonants to show the vowels. The Masoretes added it to preserve the pronunciation.
Masorah
The notes the Masoretes wrote in the margins and at the end of books, counting words and noting unusual forms to guard against copying errors.
Qere and Ketiv
Hebrew for read and written. A marginal note says that a word written one way in the text should be read aloud another way.
Codex
A book form with pages bound together. The great medieval Hebrew Bibles are codices.

Background

The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a few passages in Aramaic. Ancient Hebrew was written with consonants only. A reader who knew the language could fill in the vowels, much as an English reader can understand a note that says the cnd wll btn tmrw. For many centuries this worked, because the language was still alive in the mouths of the readers. As Hebrew ceased to be an everyday language for most Jews, the risk of losing the correct reading grew.

Jewish scholars responded by writing down the reading tradition. The Masoretes, working in communities such as Tiberias in Galilee, added a system of vowel points, accent marks that guided chanting, and marginal notes. The Ben Asher family of Tiberias produced a text that came to be regarded as the best. Other schools, including those with different systems, existed, but the Tiberian system became the standard.

The Masoretic Text is the base of the Old Testament in nearly all Protestant Bibles and of the Hebrew Bible in Jewish use. It is also an important witness for Catholic and Orthodox scholars. But it is a medieval form of a much older text, and the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint has shown that the history behind it is more varied than the later tradition suggests.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Before the Masoretes

Earlier Jewish scribes, sometimes called the Sopherim, copied the consonantal text with great care. The Talmud and other rabbinic writings record rules for copying a scroll, such as counting letters and using only approved materials. Such rules suggest a concern for accuracy, though they also show that variations existed in earlier times. By the first and second centuries of the Christian era, a text very close to what became the Masoretic consonantal text was widely used, especially after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD when Jewish teachers worked to preserve the tradition.

Step 2: What the Masoretes added

The Masoretes added three kinds of marks. Vowel points showed how each word was to be pronounced. Accents showed how to chant the text and also marked the sense of phrases. Marginal notes, the Masorah, recorded unusual features, such as how many times a certain form occurs in a book, in order to prevent copyists from smoothing or changing it.

They also preserved the practice of qere and ketiv. In some places the consonants of the text were left as they were, but a note told the reader to say a different word. The best known example is the divine name written with four consonants (YHWH). Out of reverence, readers said the word Adonai, meaning Lord, and the vowel points of Adonai were placed under the consonants of the name. The mixed form is the source of the old English spelling Jehovah. This shows the Masoretes recording a reading tradition rather than correcting the letters.

Step 3: The great codices

Two medieval manuscripts matter most. The Aleppo Codex was written around the year 930 and carefully pointed by Aaron ben Asher. It was kept for centuries in Aleppo in Syria and was damaged in riots in 1947, and a good portion of it was lost. The Leningrad Codex, copied in 1008 or 1009, is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in the Ben Asher tradition. It is the base text of the widely used scholarly edition Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and of the more recent Biblia Hebraica Quinta.

The text that lies behind many printed Hebrew Bibles therefore goes back to manuscripts a thousand years old, not to manuscripts of the time of the prophets. Until the twentieth century, the Masoretic manuscripts were nearly the only Hebrew witnesses scholars had.

Step 4: What the Masoretic Text is and is not

The Masoretic Text is a careful witness, and in most places it is also very close to older texts. But it is not the only ancient form of the Old Testament, and most scholars do not regard it as automatically correct in every reading. Where the Septuagint or a Dead Sea Scroll offers a different reading, textual critics weigh the evidence rather than assume one source is always right. Translators of modern Bibles often follow the Masoretic Text and note an alternative in a footnote.

A Christian or Jewish reader who cares about the text can hold two things together: gratitude for the Masoretes’ remarkable care, and willingness to learn from older evidence.

  1. Does the point I am studying come from the consonants, the vowel marks, or the notes?
  2. Which manuscript or edition is this reading taken from?
  3. Does an older witness, such as a scroll or the Septuagint, agree or differ?
  4. Is the difference a matter of pronunciation, spelling or meaning?
  5. What does the footnote in my Bible say about this verse?
  6. How much weight should I give a late manuscript that preserves an old tradition?

Examples

Reading without vowels

In English, the letters bk could stand for book, back, bake or beak. Context decides. The same is true of Hebrew consonants. The Masoretes recorded the reading handed down in the community so that the context-based decision of earlier readers would not be lost. Where a different pointing is possible, a translator may note it.

Qere and ketiv in practice

In some verses the written word is a form that the reading tradition replaced for reasons of reverence or clarity. The marginal note records the reading to be spoken. A modern Bible may follow the written form and mention the other in a footnote, or follow the spoken form. The practice shows a respect for the written letters even when the community preferred another reading.

The Aleppo Codex

The Aleppo Codex stood for centuries as the authoritative model for the Hebrew text, and the famous medieval teacher Maimonides is reported to have relied on it. After the damage of 1947, parts of the Law were lost. The story is a reminder that even our best witnesses are physical objects with a history.

Different perspectives

Jewish

Jewish tradition regards the Masoretic Text as the faithful text of the Hebrew Bible, passed on with great care. The Masorah is honored as part of the oral and written tradition, and the Tiberian text is used in synagogue and study.

Protestant

The Reformers returned to the Hebrew text as the basis for translation, in the spirit of going back to the sources. Most Protestant Old Testaments translate the Masoretic Text, often with notes where the Septuagint or the scrolls offer a different reading.

Catholic

Catholic translators use the Hebrew text and also give weight to the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, which the church has long used. Modern Catholic translations such as those of recent decades work from the best Hebrew editions and the older versions together.

Orthodox

Orthodox churches use the Septuagint as the Old Testament of worship and regard it as the text of the early church. They do not reject the Hebrew, and Orthodox scholars use both, but liturgy is based on the Greek.

Scholarly

Textual scholars treat the Masoretic Text as the main base for critical editions, while noting that it represents one stream of text and that earlier forms are sometimes better preserved elsewhere. The balance between trusting the Masoretic Text and correcting it is a live subject of debate.

Why it matters

Most readers meet the Old Testament in translation, and every translation rests on decisions about the Hebrew text. Knowing about the Masoretes explains where the standard text comes from and why footnotes mention other readings. It also prepares you for the next lessons on the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls, which show where the Masoretic Text agrees with older evidence and where it does not.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: The Masoretes wrote the Old Testament.

Correction: They copied, pointed and annotated a text that came to them from earlier centuries. Their contribution was the preservation of reading and of detail.

Misunderstanding: The Hebrew text has never changed.

Correction: The Masoretic tradition is remarkably stable, but older scrolls and the Septuagint show variations, and scholars discuss which form is earlier in particular places.

Misunderstanding: The vowel points are as old as the consonants.

Correction: The vowels were added in the early medieval period, though they reflect an older reading tradition. Where the pointing affects the sense, translators sometimes propose another reading.

Misunderstanding: The word Jehovah is the original name of God in Hebrew.

Correction: It is a hybrid form made from the consonants of the divine name and the vowels of Adonai. Scholars generally think the original pronunciation was something like Yahweh, but this is an inference.

Knowledge check

Who were the Masoretes and what did they add to the text?

They were Jewish scribes and scholars of the early medieval period, working in places such as Tiberias. They added vowel points, accent marks and marginal notes to the consonantal text in order to preserve its correct reading and guard against copying errors.

What are the Aleppo and Leningrad Codices?

They are the two great medieval manuscripts of the Ben Asher tradition. The Aleppo Codex dates from about 930 and was partly lost in 1947. The Leningrad Codex, from 1008 or 1009, is the oldest complete Hebrew Bible and is the base of modern scholarly editions.

What does qere and ketiv mean?

Qere means read and ketiv means written. A marginal note tells the reader to say a different word from the one written in the text. It is a way of preserving both the received letters and the reading tradition.

Is the Masoretic Text the only ancient form of the Old Testament text?

No. It is the standard Hebrew form, but the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls show that other forms existed. Scholars weigh these witnesses against the Masoretic Text in particular passages and sometimes prefer another reading.

Think it through

  1. What does the Masoretes’ care for tiny details tell you about how they regarded the text?
  2. Why might a community prefer to keep an unusual written form and add a note, rather than change it?
  3. How should it affect a reader to know that the vowels of the Hebrew Bible were added in the medieval period?
  4. What would you want to know before trusting a thousand year old manuscript as a witness to a text far older?

Independent assignment

Compare a footnote

Choose a Psalm of about ten verses. In your notebook, copy the verses from two English translations. Look for a footnote in either that mentions the Hebrew, the Septuagint or another ancient source. Write 200 to 300 words explaining what the footnote says, whether it affects the meaning, and which witness it relies on. Keep your work in your notebook.

Further study