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Masoretes
The Masoretes (, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe- scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in the Jewish centers of the Levant (e.g., Tiberias and Jerusalem) and Mesopotamia (e.g., Sura and Nehardea). Each group compiled a system of pronunciation and grammatical guides in the form of diacritical notes ('' niqqud'') on the external form of the biblical text in an attempt to standardize the pronunciation, paragraph and verse divisions, and cantillation of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) for the worldwide Jewish community. The ben Asher family of Masoretes was largely responsible for the preservation and production of the Masoretic Text, although there existed an alternative Masoretic text of the ben Naphtali Masoretes, which has around 875 differences from the ben Asher text. The halakhic authority Maimonides endorsed the ben Asher as superior, although the Egyptian Jewish scholar, the Saa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) 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 ''masora''. Referring to the Masoretic Text, ''masora'' 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. The d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; ; or ), also known in Hebrew as (; ), is the canonical collection of scriptures, comprising the Torah (the five Books of Moses), the Nevi'im (the Books of the Prophets), and the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . ''''. ; ; or ), also known in Hebrew as (; ), is the canonical collection of scriptures, comprising the (the five Books of Moses), the |
Hebrew Grammar
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival. It is the only Canaanite language, as well as one of only two Northwest Semitic languages, with the other being Aramaic, still spoken today. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as '' Lashon H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Asher
Aaron ben Moses ben Asher (; 10th century, died c. 960) was a sofer (Jewish scribe) who lived in Tiberias. He perfected the Tiberian system of writing vowel sounds in Hebrew. The system is still in use today, serving as the basis for grammatical analysis. Biography Aaron ben Moses ben Asher lived and worked in the city of Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was descended from a long line of Masoretes, starting with someone called Asher, but nothing is known about them other than their names. His father, Moses ben Asher, is credited with writing the Cairo Codex of the Prophets (895 CE). If authentic, it is among the oldest manuscripts containing a large proportion of the Hebrew Bible. Questions about possible Karaite ancestry Scholars have long debated as to whether Aaron ben Asher was a Karaite. While many modern scholars lean toward this being true, there is no clear consensus, and so the question remains open. The idea was first suggested in 1860 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Rabbinic Judaism, non-Rabbinical Jewish religious movements, Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme religious text, authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and theology. Karaites believe that all of the Mitzvah, divine commandments which were handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah without any additional Oral Torah, Oral Law or explanation. Unlike mainstream Rabbinic Judaism, which regards the Oral Torah, codified in the Talmud and subsequent works, as authoritative interpretations of the Torah, Karaite Jews do not treat the written collections of the oral tradition in the Midrash or the Talmud as binding. Karaite interpretation of the Torah strives to adhere to the plain or most obvious meaning (''peshat'') of the text; this is not necessarily the literal meaning of the text—instead, it is the meaning of the text that would have been naturally understood by the ancient He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Naphtali
Ben Naphtali () was a rabbi and Masoretes, Masorete who flourished around 890-940 CE, probably in Tiberias. Of his life little is known. His first name is in dispute. Some medieval authorities called him "Jacob"; two Chufut-Kale manuscripts have "Moses b. David"; a third contains his epigraph (literature), epigraph, which is incomplete, only "ben (Hebrew), ben David ben Naphtali" remaining. His name is most likely Abu Imran, Moshe ben David ben Naphtali as preserved in Mishael ben Uzziel's 11th century treatise and in the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S K27.36 in the University Library at Cambridge. Ben Naphtali and Ben Asher Ben Naphtali wrote a Bible with vowels, accents, and Masorah, which differed in some respects from that of his contemporary and rival, Aaron ben Moses ben Asher (generally called Ben Asher). This Bible codex has not been preserved, but the differences between it and Ben Asher's version are found in incomplete Masoretic lists found in quotations in David Ḳimḥi, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nehardea
Nehardea or Nehardeah ( "river of knowledge") was a city from the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka (the Royal Canal), one of the earliest and most prominent centers of Babylonian Judaism. It hosted the Nehardea Academy, one of the most prominent Talmudic academies in Babylonia, and was home to great scholars such as Samuel of Nehardea, Rav Nachman, and Amemar. Location Nehardea was adjacent or identical to Anbar, a short distance from the modern city of Fallujah (formerly the site of Pumbedita). History Before the amoraic period As the seat of the exilarch, Nehardea traced its origin back to King Jehoiachin. According to Sherira Gaon, Jehoiachin and his coexilarchs built a synagogue at Nehardea, for the foundation of which they used earth and stones which they had brought (in accordance with the words of Psalms 102:15) from Jerusalem. For this reason it was called 'The Synagogue th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niqqud
In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the Early Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still used to a significant degree today, was created by the Masoretes of Tiberias in the second half of the first millennium AD in the Land of Israel (see Masoretic Text, Tiberian Hebrew). Text written with niqqud is called '' ktiv menuqad''. Niqqud marks are small compared to the letters, so they can be added without retranscribing texts whose writers did not anticipate them. In modern Israeli orthography ''niqqud'' is mainly used in specialised texts such as dictionaries, poetry, or texts for children or new immigrants to Israel. For purposes of disambiguation, a system of spelling without niqqud, known in Hebrew as '' ktiv maleh'' (, literally "full spelling") had develope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew Cantillation
Hebrew cantillation, trope, trop, or ''te'amim'' is the manner of chanting ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue Jewish services, services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic Text of the Bible, to complement the letters and Niqqud, vowel points. These marks are known in English as 'accents' (diacritics), 'notes' or trope symbols, and in Hebrew language, Hebrew as () or just (). Some of these signs were also sometimes used in medieval manuscripts of the Mishnah. The musical motifs associated with the signs are known in Hebrew as or (not to be confused with Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic nigun) and in Yiddish as (): the word ''trope'' is sometimes used in Jewish English languages, Jewish English with the same meaning. There are multiple traditions of cantillation. Within each tradition, there are multiple tropes, typically for different books of the Bible and often for different occasions. For ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. In , it had a population of . Tiberias was founded around 20 CE by Herod Antipas and was named after Roman emperor Tiberius. It became a major political and religious hub of the Jews in the Land of Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of Judea during the Jewish–Roman wars. From the time of the second through the tenth centuries CE, Tiberias was the largest Jewish city in Galilee, and much of the Mishna and the Jerusalem Talmud were compiled there. Tiberias flourished during the Early Muslim period, when it served as the capital of Jund al-Urdunn and became a multi-cultural trading center.Hirschfeld, Y. (2007). Post-Roman Tiberias: between East and West. ''Post-Roman Towns, Trade and Settle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakdanim
The ''nakdanim'' were a group of Jewish scholars, active between the 9th and 14th centuries, who added accents and vowels to biblical texts. They were the successors of the Masoretes The Masoretes (, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe- scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in the Jewish centers of the Levant (e.g., Tiberias and Jerusalem) an .... The ''nakdanim'' were responsible for all the pen drawings and micrographic decorations in Ashkenazi manuscripts. They were also involved in the writing of compilations and explanations of Masoretic works, the latter of which would often be included in the body of the texts. References Jewish scribes (soferim) {{judaism-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
