Back Masoretiese teks Afrikaans المخطوطات الماسورتية Arabic المخطوطات الماسورتيه ARZ Testu masoréticu AST Масарэцкі тэкст Byelorussian Масора Bulgarian Text masorètic Catalan Masoretský text Czech Masoretischer Text German Μασοριτικό κείμενο Greek
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The Masoretic Text[a] (MT or 𝕸; Hebrew: נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, romanized: Nūssāḥ hamMāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the mas'sora. Referring to the Masoretic Text, masorah specifically means the diacritic markings of the text of the Jewish scriptures and the concise marginal notes in manuscripts (and later printings) of the Tanakh which note textual details, usually about the precise spelling of words. 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). The oldest known complete copy, the Leningrad Codex, dates to 1009 CE and is recognized as the most complete source of biblical books in the Ben Asher tradition. It has served as the base text for critical editions such as Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Adi.[1]
The differences attested to in the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that multiple versions of the Hebrew scriptures already existed by the end of the Second Temple period.[2] Which is closest to a theoretical Urtext is disputed, as is whether such a singular text ever existed.[3] The Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to as early as the 3rd century BCE, contain versions of the text which have some differences with today's Hebrew Bible.[4][2] The Septuagint (a compilation of Koine Greek translations made in the third and second centuries BCE) and the Peshitta (a Syriac translation made in the second century CE) occasionally present notable differences from the Masoretic Text, as does the Samaritan Pentateuch, the text of the Torah preserved by the Samaritans in Samaritan Hebrew.[5] Fragments of an ancient 2nd–3rd-century manuscript of the Book of Leviticus found near an ancient synagogue's Torah ark in Ein Gedi have identical wording to the Masoretic Text.[6][7]
The Masoretic Text is the basis for most Protestant translations of the Old Testament such as the King James Version, English Standard Version,[8] New American Standard Bible,[9] and New International Version.[10] After 1943, it has also been used for some Catholic Bibles, such as the New American Bible and the New Jerusalem Bible.[citation needed] Some Christian denominations instead prefer translations of the Septuagint as it matches quotations in the New Testament.[11]
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- ^ Tov, Emanuel (2001). Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2nd Revised ed.). Fortress Press. p. 47. ISBN 9780800634292.
- ^ a b Tov, Emanuel (1992). Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
- ^ Shanks, Herschel (4 August 1992). Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls (1st ed.). Random House. p. 336. ISBN 978-0679414483.
- ^ "Piece of coal deciphered as ancient biblical text". 5 October 2016.
- ^ "Controversy lurks as scholars try to work out Bible's original text". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ^ "Scanning software deciphers ancient biblical scroll". Associated Press. 21 September 2016.
- ^ Seales, W. B.; Parker, C. S.; Segal, M.; Tov, E.; Shor, P.; Porath, Y. (21 September 2016). "From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi". Science Advances. 2 (9): e1601247. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1601247. PMC 5031465. PMID 27679821.
- ^ "Preface to the English Standard Version". ESV.org. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
The ESV [Old Testament] is based on the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible as found in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th ed., 1997) ... The currently renewed respect among Old Testament scholars for the Masoretic text is reflected in the ESV's attempt, wherever possible, to translate difficult Hebrew passages as they stand in the Masoretic text rather than resorting to emendations or to finding an alternative reading in the ancient versions. In exceptional, difficult cases, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, and other sources were consulted to shed possible light on the text, or, if necessary, to support a divergence from the Masoretic text.
- ^ "More Information about NASB 2020". The Lockman Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
For the Old Testament: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) for the books available. Also the LXX, DSS, the Targums, and other ancient versions when pertinent.
- ^ "Preface". Biblia. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
For the Old Testament the standard Hebrew text, the Masoretic Text as published in the latest edition of Biblia Hebraica, has been used throughout. ... The Dead Sea Scrolls contain biblical texts that represent an earlier stage of the transmission of the Hebrew text. They have been consulted, as have been the Samaritan Pentateuch and the ancient scribal traditions concerning deliberate textual changes. The translators also consulted the more important early versions—the Greek Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac Peshitta, the Aramaic Targums, and for the Psalms, the Juxta Hebraica of Jerome.
- ^ Pentiuc, Eugen J. (2006). Jesus the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible. Mahwah, NJ, US: Paulist Press. p. xvi.