Masoretic

"Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew (with a little Aramaic, mainly in Ezra and Daniel). The New Testament, on the other hand, was written in Greek. When you read your Bible in one of the modern English translations, that translation will have been made directly from editions based on the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, and the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament. These Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament are usually referred to (slightly confusingly) as 'Hebrew Bible' manuscripts."^[1]
"The Masoretic Text is the fruit of the genius of Jewish textual scholars who codified the pronunciation of the Hebrew text." ^[2]
What is that genius?
There is little doubt that rhetorical schemes and tropes may cause a deliberate departure from bare literalism with or without bias. There is also little doubt that the literal Hebrew text and context include words with both literal and more abstract meanings to the same words.
Can we say that the *codification of pronunciation* do not support a subtle bias to encourage a doctrinal and interpretive influence upon the narrative and therefore the reader?

The Masoretic Text

Over 700 years after Jesus was proclaimed king in Judea someone began to create the Masoretic version of the Old Testament. There is a difference of opinion as to when the Text was written, but it may have been accomplished in the 10th to the 11th century. Editions vary but there is one claiming to be an authoritative text^[3] published in 1524.

Many traditions of the Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes (or Masorites) who were rabbis attempted to correct what they called faults which they said crept into the text during the Babylonian captivity.

The people who did this were influenced by what they already believed to be true. Vowel points were added to the text along with cantillation marks bit some who once thought the text was still reliable have questioned that the bias is real.

"Historical research reveals five significant ways in which the Masoretic Text is different from the original Old Testament:

The Masoretes admitted that they received corrupted texts to begin with.
The Masoretic Text is written with a radically different alphabet than the original.
The Masoretes added vowel points which did not exist in the original.
The Masoretic Text excluded several books from the Old Testament scriptures.
The Masoretic Text includes changes to prophecy and doctrine.^[4]

Trope

Although the Masoretes may have had the intention to attempt to do a good job they clearly interpreted tropes^[5] and rhetorical schemes^[6] based on what they already believed concerning the original text according to their own preconceived notions, concepts and beliefs.

If the Masoretes understood Abraham, Jacob's journey that made him Israel, and of course Moses who brought the people out of bondage and showed the the perfect law of liberty as all the prophets tried to reveal in their witings the [Masoretic|Masoretes]] would have understood Christ and the Gospel of the kingdom.

The primary innovation of the Masoretes (Jewish textual scholars active from the 7th to 9th centuries AD) was not changing the text, but rather codifying the oral tradition of pronunciation. They achieved this by:

The Masoretes added vowel points and accent signs to the existing consonantal Hebrew text that some claimed would prevent inadvertent changes in future copies. But what they were actually doing was advancing or confirming the bias established in previous sectarian or denominational oral recitation and traditions that may have been distortion of the original authors intent over the generations.

There has been a significant scholarly and theological debate regarding whether Hebrew tropes (cantillation marks or ta'amei ha-mikra) preserve the original meaning of the text or introduce later interpretive distortions.

The system codified by the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries took place thousand years after biblical texts were written. Tropes determine pauses, interruptions, or even connects words and therefore ideas which can drastically change a verse's meaning. If the Masoretic accentuation is incorrect, the tense—and thus the narrative timeline—changes.

The scholarly consensus presented in the consonantal Hebrew text may be a guarantee that the text remained stable and unchanged but not a guarantee the meaning was unchanged by oral traditions or "sectarian bias".

Religious Bias

There are scholars that admit that the Masoretes may have subtly adjusted accents to align with Rabbinic theology or to counter Christian interpretations that relied on different syntactic divisions as with the Septuagint.

Like the Pharisees before them, they may not have known the word and meanings of the Father in heaven because they did not know the spirit of God or Christ. They may have been under the same strong delusion of the Pharisees who failed to understand the Old Testament. Others like the Essenes came too much different conclusions reading the same Torah because of private interpretations and sophistry. A Christian should find the meaning of the prophets reflected in the teachings and practices of the early Church.

Every letter counts

As we have seen in the original Hebrew new words could be constructed by adding or changing a letter. If you add the letter Hey, ה, to the word ShinBeitAyin (שבע) you get what some write as shib`ah but in the Hebrew there is still only the same four letters (שבעה).

This word maybe translated seven things or the seventh item, but with a different set of vowel points the word עבשׁ sheba‘, becomes the name Sheba, numbered 07652.

With another set of points the translators make ShinBetAyinHey (שבעה) into the word sib`ah, numbered 07653, with the meaning fullness or satisfaction. It also appears as 07656 Shebah, or 07655 shib`ah, also translated 'seven', 'seven times', or as 07654 sob`ah it becomes satisfy, enough, full, or sufficiently, or as 07653 sib`ah again, becomes fullness.

While many of these translations may be similar the word satisfaction and seven are distinctly different words. There are many other words that are strikingly different in meaning coming from the same words and if improperly marked or translated they may alter the entire meaning of the text in the mind of the reader. This coupled with the preconceived notions of the student, a false impression or understanding of the meaning of the text may result.

Were the Pyramids Built Before the Flood? (Masoretic Text vs. Original Hebrew) Who was Shem and Melchisedec? What were the arguments and why? This is the results of Nathan's work Time 31:05

One reason for a lack of details and the warnings about immersing ourselves into details is that it may not be as important as the overall message concerning the difference between the way of Cain, Nimrod, Pharaoh who oppressed mankind turning their governments into cities of blood and with a lack of forgiveness set up systems of force and violence.

We even see them encouraging the people's appetite for the dainties of rulers. These covetous practices that lead the people back into bondage while they bite one another is contrary to the way of Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus the Christ who set those Captives free.

Letter or Spirit

Many prefer the inspiration of the consonantal Hebrew text rather than the Masoretic vowel points and comments that have been added by men with a religious agenda.

Akkadian is considered a Semitic languages and is undeniably related to Hebrew, even though it was written in cuneiform.

While there is the Samaritan Pentateuch, and now the Dead Sea Scrolls, other than fragments, there is no parallel family of manuscripts to call upon to determine the understanding of the words and meanings themselves. The Masoretic^[7] text may be technically similar based on comparison with the Dead Sea scrolls translations of a few texts the interpretations and varied English translations can alter our understanding of the original intent and message.

Methods of teaching Classical Hebrew fall into two basic categories, the Grammar Translation Method and the Inductive Reading Method. The Inductive method lends itself to conversation and since there is no native speakers to consult when one wishes to test out ones inter-language hypotheses we often must resign ourselves to "endless grammar exceptions".

What you are seeing is conclusions based on what the linguist believes the words mean already.

These rules and exceptions are determined to alter the meaning of the words to fit what they already believe the words are supposed to mean and therefore are heavily dependent on theological prejudice. If the linguist or translator comes to a conclusion that counter consistently accepted theology they lose credibility and will need to find another job. But this does not guarantee that "consistently accepted theology" is even close to the truth.

A sample of the text in a study of the word "Celebrate" is seen in the Masoretic Text which says that the Hebrew text should look like this.
Leviticus 23:32

Westminster Leningrad Codex with vowel points

שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתֹון הוּא לָכֶם וְעִנִּיתֶם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם בְּתִשְׁעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ בָּעֶרֶב מֵעֶרֶב עַד־עֶרֶב תִּשְׁבְּתוּ שַׁבַּתְּכֶֽם׃ פ

Westminster Leningrad Codex Consonants Only

שבת שבתון הוא לכם ועניתם את־נפשתיכם בתשעה לחדש בערב מערב עד־ערב תשבתו שבתכם׃ פ

If you look you will see the letters Shem Beit Tav (תבשׁ) in several words. That is a base word and by adding letters you will change the meaning. Those jots and titles are not necessarily in the original text.

sabbath 07676 שַׁבָּת shabbath

of rest, 07677 שַׁבָּתוֹן shabbathown^[8]

shall ye celebrate 07673 שָׁבַת shabath

your sabbath. 07676 שַׁבָּת shabbath

Jots and Tittles

The concepts of the jot and tittle or "strokes or crowns" or "yodh and taggin" have been "added" to the Hebrew language through the transition from the Phoenician alphabet to the Quadrate Schrift or "Square Script".

This reform evolved during and after the Babylonian exile (post-600 BCE). This was long before the corruption of the Sanhedrin, the rise of a corrupted Pharisees influence prevalent at the time of Jesus and the Corban of Herod in his temple. It was prior to the Septuagint , establishing the script forms referenced in the New Testament.

The original Phoenician Yod was a pictogram of an arm or hand and was larger than other letters; the Vav was a line with two "horns." But the "jot" called a yod (or Yodh): Reform Period: The shift occurred when Ezra and his scribes formed the Square Script to remove pagan symbolism, making the Yod the smallest letter and simplifying the Vav into a simple stroke.

An Aramaic term for the "tittles" is a Taggin (or Tag) which is a small ornamental strokes, crowns, or "thorn" placed on top of certain Hebrew letters. In Hebrew it may be referred to as Kether (plural Ketarim), meaning "crown. The Greek term "Keraia"^[9] can be translated to "tittle." It literally means "little horn" or "hook" and can refer to the ornamental taggin, small distinguishing pen strokes that is said to be used to differentiate similar letters (such as Bet vs. Kaph), or diacritics^[10].

The Yod does represents the essential humility required to observe the "hidden spark" of an ongoing spiritual creation.

Controversies and debates

Jesus stated that "not one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law" (Matthew 5:18)^[11], he was invoking a well-known scribal principle which expressed the immutability of divine inspiration.

There are significant but ancient controversies and debates regarding whether the Yodh (jot) and Taggin (tittles/crowns) are essential to the meaning and therefore determining the validity of the text or were they merely decorative. This discussion spans the legal Halakhic collection of Jewish religious doctrines that are derived from the written opinions and Oral traditions of the Torah as a legal text. While the, more mystical Kabbalistic, is often seen as a set of sacred and spiritual teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God and the mysteries of the soul of man.

The Talmudic lettered approach insists that to write some letters without its taggin renders the whole scroll invalid^[12]. While, Maimonides (Rambam) ruled that their absence does not invalidate the scroll. He viewed them as optional adornments rather than functional components of the letters.

These added marks have significantly influenced Jewish and Christian doctrines and has suggested theological assertions of questionable inerrancy.^[13]

Deuteronomy 4:2 & 12:32: "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it..." These verses are the primary biblical basis for the argument that any scribal addition not explicitly commanded by God could be seen as a violation. Critics of the taggin argue that if these crowns were not part of the original divine dictation to Moses, their later inclusion by scribes might technically constitute "adding" to the Torah.

Proverbs 30:5-6: "Every word of God is pure... Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." This wisdom literature reinforces the sufficiency and purity of the original text, suggesting that human attempts to embellish (even with good intentions) risk distorting divine truth.

The jots and tittles are seen as human inventions (which would violate Deuteronomy but any private interpretation could fall under the same violation.

Both Old and New testaments warn that God must reveal or write upon the heart of every individual.

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Footnotes

↑ "The Extraordinary Hebrew Text behind Your English Bible." Kim Phillips
↑ Kim Phillips in his article "The Extraordinary Hebrew Text behind Your English Bible" discussing the Masoretic text and Hebrew Bible manuscripts on the Text & Canon Institute website.
↑ Jacob ben-chayim ibn Adonijah, who arranged previous works
↑ Masoretic Text vs. Original Hebrew, August 31, 2015 By Fr. John A. Peck
↑ Trope. A rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e. using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. In general literature and criticism, a trope as a figure of speech it may be a storytelling convention that uses language in a non-literal way to create a specific effect. Examples may include Metaphor, simile (directly compares two unrelated things), irony (incongruity between the literal and the implied meaning), and hyperbole (Deliberate exaggeration).
↑ Schemes or elocution are when a word or phrase departs from straightforward, literal language.
↑ : The present Hebrew Bibles that we now possess are from the Massoretic Text. This text dates back as far as AD 900 and is called the Massoratic Text because it was a product of the Jewish scribes known as the “Massoretes”. <Alternative form of masorite found in some dictionaries.>
The Massorets were Hebrew scholars between AD 500 and 950 who made determinations about pronunciation and grammatical form of the Old Testament text by inserting vowel points. Their opinion and criticism produced the modern-day Hebrew Bible from what was an unpainted consonantal text we no longer have.
↑ 07677 ^ןותבשׁ^ shabbathown \@shab-baw-thone’\@ from 07676; n m; AV-rest 8, sabbath 3, 11
1) Sabbath observance, sabbatism
1a) of weekly sabbath

1b) day of atonement

1c) sabbatical year

1d) of Feast of Trumpets

1e) of the 1st and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles:
↑ See in the New Testament (Matthew 5:18)
↑ Diacritical marks or accents are glyphs added to letters to indicate a different pronunciation, stress, tone, or meaning than the unmarked character but are not original in many ancient original texts.
↑ [17] Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.[18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.[19] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.[20] For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
↑ The believe certain letters requiring crowns (Shin, Ayin, Tet, Nun, Zayin, Gimel, Tzadik)
↑ In its original manuscripts, the text is entirely free from error and without fault in all that it affirms, including historical, scientific, and theological statements but the jots and tittles are not original.

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[1] "The Extraordinary Hebrew Text behind Your English Bible." Kim Phillips

[2] Kim Phillips in his article "The Extraordinary Hebrew Text behind Your English Bible" discussing the Masoretic text and Hebrew Bible manuscripts on the Text & Canon Institute website.

[3] Jacob ben-chayim ibn Adonijah, who arranged previous works

[4] Masoretic Text vs. Original Hebrew, August 31, 2015 By Fr. John A. Peck

[5] Trope. A rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e. using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. In general literature and criticism, a trope as a figure of speech it may be a storytelling convention that uses language in a non-literal way to create a specific effect. Examples may include Metaphor, simile (directly compares two unrelated things), irony (incongruity between the literal and the implied meaning), and hyperbole (Deliberate exaggeration).

[6] Schemes or elocution are when a word or phrase departs from straightforward, literal language.

[7] : The present Hebrew Bibles that we now possess are from the Massoretic Text. This text dates back as far as AD 900 and is called the Massoratic Text because it was a product of the Jewish scribes known as the “Massoretes”. <Alternative form of masorite found in some dictionaries.>
The Massorets were Hebrew scholars between AD 500 and 950 who made determinations about pronunciation and grammatical form of the Old Testament text by inserting vowel points. Their opinion and criticism produced the modern-day Hebrew Bible from what was an unpainted consonantal text we no longer have.

[8] 07677 ^ןותבשׁ^ shabbathown \@shab-baw-thone’\@ from 07676; n m; AV-rest 8, sabbath 3, 11
1) Sabbath observance, sabbatism
1a) of weekly sabbath

1b) day of atonement

1c) sabbatical year

1d) of Feast of Trumpets

1e) of the 1st and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles:

[9] See in the New Testament (Matthew 5:18)

[10] Diacritical marks or accents are glyphs added to letters to indicate a different pronunciation, stress, tone, or meaning than the unmarked character but are not original in many ancient original texts.

[11] [17] Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.[18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.[19] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.[20] For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

[12] The believe certain letters requiring crowns (Shin, Ayin, Tet, Nun, Zayin, Gimel, Tzadik)

[13] In its original manuscripts, the text is entirely free from error and without fault in all that it affirms, including historical, scientific, and theological statements but the jots and tittles are not original.

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Masoretic

Contents

The Masoretic Text

Trope

Religious Bias

Every letter counts

Letter or Spirit

Jots and Tittles

Controversies and debates

Footnotes

About the author

Navigation menu

Masoretic

The Masoretic Text

Trope

Religious Bias

Every letter counts

Letter or Spirit

Jots and Tittles

Controversies and debates

Footnotes

About the author

Subscribe

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