Editing Masoretic Text (section)

{{Short description|Authoritative text of the Tanakh in Rabbinic Judaism}}
[[File:Leningrad Codex Folio 474a.jpg|thumb|right|[[Carpet page]] from the [[Leningrad Codex]], the oldest complete manuscript of the Masoretic Text]]
{{Bible related}}

The '''Masoretic Text'''{{efn|"Masoretic" pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|æ|s|ə|ˈ|r|ɛ|t|ɪ|k}}.}} ('''MT''' or 𝕸; {{langx|he|נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה|Nūssāḥ hamMāsōrā|lit=Text of the Tradition}}) is the authoritative [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] and [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]] text of the 24&nbsp;books of the [[Hebrew Bible]] (''Tanakh'') in [[Rabbinic Judaism]]. The Masoretic Text defines the [[Development of the Hebrew Bible canon|Jewish canon]] and its precise letter-text, with its [[niqqud|vocalization]] and [[Hebrew cantillation|accentuation]] known as the ''mas'sora''. Referring to the Masoretic Text, ''masorah'' specifically means the [[Hebrew diacritics|diacritic markings]] of the text of the Jewish scriptures and the concise [[:wikt:Masorah|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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tov |first=Emanuel |title=Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible |edition=2nd Revised |year=2001 |publisher=Fortress Press |page=47 |isbn=9780800634292 |language=en}}</ref>

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]].<ref name=Tov>{{cite book |last=Tov |first=Emanuel |title=Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible |publisher=Fortress Press |place=Minneapolis, MN |year=1992}}</ref> Which is closest to a theoretical [[Urtext (biblical studies)|Urtext]] is disputed, as is whether such a singular text ever existed.<ref name="understanding">{{cite book |title=Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingdea00shan |url-access=registration |last=Shanks |first=Herschel |date=4 August 1992 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0679414483 |edition=1st |page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingdea00shan/page/336 336]}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2016/10/05/piece-of-coal-deciphered-as-ancient-biblical-text | title=Piece of coal deciphered as ancient biblical text | date=5 October 2016 }}</ref><ref name=Tov/> The [[Septuagint]] (a compilation of Koine Greek translations made in the third and second centuries BCE) and the [[Peshitta]] (a [[Syriac language|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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/controversy-lurks-as-scholars-suss-out-original-biblical-text/#ixzz31uFPqDC8 |title=Controversy lurks as scholars try to work out Bible's original text |newspaper=The Times of Israel |access-date=2015-08-25 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Fragments of an [[En-Gedi Scroll|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.<ref name="Associated Press">{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/60785bb2031a478cb71ce9278782c320/scanning-software-deciphers-ancient-biblical-scroll |title=Scanning software deciphers ancient biblical scroll |work=Associated Press |date=21 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi |journal=Science Advances |date=21 September 2016|pmc=5031465 |last1=Seales |first1=W. B. |last2=Parker |first2=C. S. |last3=Segal |first3=M. |last4=Tov |first4=E. |last5=Shor |first5=P. |last6=Porath |first6=Y. |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=e1601247 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1601247 |pmid=27679821 }}</ref>

The Masoretic Text is the basis for most [[Protestant Bible|Protestant translations]] of the [[Old Testament]] such as the [[King James Version]], [[English Standard Version]],<ref name="esv-ot-basis">{{Cite web |title=Preface to the English Standard Version |url=https://www.esv.org/preface/ |website=ESV.org |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526061435/https://www.esv.org/preface/ |archive-date=26 May 2020 |access-date=3 December 2024 |quote=The ESV [Old Testament] is based on the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible as found in ''Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia'' (5th ed., 1997){{Nbsp}}... 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.}}</ref> [[New American Standard Bible]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=More Information about NASB 2020|url=https://www.lockman.org/nasb-bible-info/more-information-about-nasb-2020/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110073221/https://www.lockman.org/nasb-bible-info/more-information-about-nasb-2020/|archive-date=10 January 2021|access-date=7 December 2024|website=The Lockman Foundation|quote=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.}}</ref> and [[New International Version]].<ref name="niv-ot-basis">{{Cite web|title=Preface|url=https://biblia.com/books/niv2011/offset/1179880|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809062034/https://biblia.com/books/niv2011/offset/1179880|archive-date=9 August 2021|access-date=3 December 2024|website=Biblia|quote=For the Old Testament the standard Hebrew text, the Masoretic Text as published in the latest edition of ''Biblia Hebraica'', has been used throughout.{{nbsp}}... 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.}}</ref> [[Divino afflante Spiritu|After 1943]], it has also been used for some [[Catholic Bible]]s, such as the [[New American Bible]] and the [[New Jerusalem Bible]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Some Christian denominations instead prefer translations of the Septuagint as it matches quotations in the [[New Testament]].<ref name="Pentiuc2006">{{cite book |first=Eugen J. |last=Pentiuc |author-link=Eugen J. Pentiuc|title=Jesus the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible |publisher=Paulist Press |place=Mahwah, NJ, US |year=2006 |page=xvi}}</ref>