Textual Scholars of the Old Testament – Christian Publishing House Blog

THE MASORETES AND THE MASORETIC TEXT—A Basic Overview

April 18, 2020 Christian Publishing House

The Masoretes were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, based primarily in early medieval Palestine in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq.

The Masoretic Text[a] (MT or 𝕸) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism.

It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE). It is the text behind all of our Bible translations.

QUEST FOR TRUTH: Karaites, Aaron Ben Moses Ben Asher, and the Masoretic Text

April 8, 2020 Christian Publishing House

“SEARCH thoroughly in the [Scriptures] and do not rely on my opinion.” Those were the words from the eighth century C.E. by a leading Karaite. Just who were the Karaites? What can we possibly learn from the example they had set?

MAIMONIDES Moses ben Maimon (1135-1204) The Man Who Redefined Judaism

April 7, 2020 Christian Publishing House

“FROM Moses to Moses, there was no one like Moses.” Many Jews will recognize this cryptic saying as an expression of admiration for the 12th-century Jewish philosopher, codifier, and commentator on the Talmud and the Scriptures, Moses Ben Maimon—also known as Maimonides and as Rambam.

Benjamin Kennicott (1718 – 1783) Old Testament Textual Criticism Scholar

June 20, 2019 Christian Publishing House

Benjamin Kennicott (4 April 1718 – 18 September 1783) was an English churchman and Hebrew scholar. Kennicott was born at Totnes, Devon. He succeeded his father as master of a charity school, but the

Jacob ben Chayyim (c. 1470 – c. 1538) Old Testament Textual Criticism Scholar

June 17, 2019 Christian Publishing House

The first rabbinic Bible—i.e., the Hebrew text furnished with full vowel points and accents, accompanied by the Aramaic Targums and the major medieval Jewish commentaries—was

HEBREW TEXT: Who Were the Masoretes?

March 2, 2019 Christian Publishing House

Who were the Masoretes, and what valuable comments have they made on the Hebrew text? What do we know about the Masoretes? What did their work involve? What did the Masoretes do regarding the Hebrew text? What is the Masoretic text, and how do we know that it is reliable? How dependable, how accurate is this Masoretic text? Can we find a “pure” Masoretic text? Why did the Masoretes take such extreme care not to alter the text when previous copyists had altered it? Was their form of Jewish belief different from that of their predecessors?