Difference between revisions of "Bible"

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The Talmud [[Ketubot 106a]] states that a standard copy of the Hebrew Bible was kept in the court of the Temple in Jerusalem for the benefit of copyists; there were paid correctors of Biblical books among the officers of the Temple. This copy is mentioned in the Aristeas Letter (§ 30; comp. Blau, Studien zum Althebr. Buchwesen, p. 100); in the statements of Philo (preamble to his "Analysis of the Political Constitution of the Jews") and in Josephus (Contra Ap. i. 8).
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The Talmud Yerushalmi [[Ta'anit lxviii. 1]], perhaps referring to an earlier time, says that while the Temple was still standing, standard codices of the Pentateuch were officially recognized. These were deposited in the court of the Temple and served as models for accuracy. According to the passage quoted, three were known by the following names respectively: ''Sefer Me'on,'' called on account of its reading instead of  [[Deutonomy 33#27]]; ''Sefer Za'aṭuṭe,'' because of its reading  instead of [[Exodus 24#5]]; and "Sefer Hi," because of its reading with a ''yod'' in nine passages instead of eleven. The ''Masorites'', too, seem to have consulted standard manuscripts celebrated for their accuracy in the redaction of the text and in the compilation of the ''Masoretic'' glosses.
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Though only the Aleppo and Leningrad manuscripts have been preserved, the following are referred to as authorities in almost every manuscript of importance:
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==Codex Muggeh (ספר מוגה)==
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i.e., the corrected Codex: Quoted by the Masorites either by its full title () or simply as "Muggeh" ().
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==Codex Hilleli (ספר הללי)==
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The origin of its name is not known. According to Zacuto, this codex was written by a certain Hillel at about 600 of the common era. In his Chronicle, compiled about 1500, Zacuto expresses himself as follows:
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:"In the year 4957, on the twenty-eighth of Ab (Aug. 14, 1197), there was a great persecution of the Jews in the kingdom of Leon at the hand of the two kingdoms that came to besiege it. At that time they removed thence the twenty-four sacred books which were written about 600 years before. They were written by R. Hillel ben Moses ben Hillel, and hence his name was given to the codex, which was called 'Hilleli.' It was exceedingly correct; and all other codices were revised after it. I saw the remaining two parts of it, containing the Former and Latter Prophets, written in large and beautiful characters; these had been brought by the exiles to Portugal and sold at Bugia in Africa, where they still are, having been written about 900 years ago. Kimḥi in his grammar on Num. x. 4 says that the Pentateuch of the Hillel Codex was extant in Toledo."
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==Codex Sanbuki==
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Frequently quoted in the Masorah Parva, and highly praised for its accuracy by Menahem de Lonzano in his "Or Torah." According to Christian D. Ginsburg, the name of this codex is derived from "Zambuki" on the Tigris, to which community it belonged.
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==Codex Yerushalmi==
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As attested by Ḳimḥi ("Miklol," ed. Fürth, 1793, p. 184b), the codex was for many years in Saragossa, and was extensively used by the grammarian and lexicographer Ibn Janaḥ. It is often quoted in the Masorah as exhibiting a different orthography from that of the Codex Hilleli.
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==Codex Jericho, also called Jericho Pentateuch (חומש יריחו)==
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The name seems to imply that the manuscript embraced only the Pentateuch. It is mentioned by Elijah Levita, in "Shibre Luḥot," as most reliable for the accents.
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==Codex Sinai (ספר סיני)==
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Many opinions exist as to the derivation of its name. The most plausible is that it was derived from "Mount Sinai," just as the codices Jericho and Yerushalmi denote the places of their origin. It is mentioned in the Masorah, and is also cited by Elijah Levita in his work quoted above.
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==Codex Great Maḥzor (מחזורא רבה)==
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This probably contained the annual or triennial cycle ("Maḥzor") of lessons to be read on week-days, Sabbaths, feasts, and fasts; hence its name.
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==Codex Ezra==
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Quoted in the Masorah Parva. A manuscript professing to be a copy of this codex is in the possession of Christian D. Ginsburg.
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==Codex Babylon (ספר בבלי)==
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Differences (, "ḥillufin") existed between the Western schools (), the chief seat of which was Tiberias, and the Eastern (), the principal centers of which were Nehardea and Sura, in the reading of many passages; this codex gives the Eastern recension (see Masorah).
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Another standard codex which served as a model at the time of Maimonides was that written in the tenth century by the renowned Masorite Aaron ben Moses ben Asher of Tiberias (compare Maimonides, "Yad," Sefer Torah, viii. 4). This codex was for a long time believed to be identical with that preserved in the synagogue at Aleppo (Jacob Saphir, , i. 12b; Grätz, in "Monatsschrift," 1871, p. 6; 1887, p. 30; Strack, "Prolegomena Critica," pp. 44-46). [E. N. Adler ("Kaufmann Gedenkbuch," p. 130) argues that the Aleppo Codex is a copy, not the original; but Wickes ("Hebrew Accentuation," Preface, p. vii., Oxford, 1887) makes it clear that "the statement assigning the codex to (Aaron ben Moses) Ben-Asher is a fabrication." E. G. H.
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==Aleppo Codex (כתר ארם צובא)==
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Two celebrated manuscripts believed to be very ancient are still extant in Syria. One of these, the Aleppo (Damascus) Codex, which, according to the inscription on its title-page (added, however, by a later hand), was written in the third century of the common era, belongs to a Jewish family of Damascus named Parḥi, and is exhibited to the inhabitants on feast-days. The other is kept in a grotto by the inhabitants of Jobar near Damascus. 
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The Aleppo Codex was at one time the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible,[1] however approximately one-third of it, including nearly all of the Torah, has been missing since 1947. It is considered the most authoritative document in the masorah ("transmission"), the tradition by which the Hebrew Scriptures have been preserved from generation to generation.[2] Surviving examples of responsa literature show the Aleppo Codex to have been consulted by far-flung Jewish scholars throughout the Middle Ages, and modern studies have shown it to be the most accurate representation of Masoretic principles to be found in any extant manuscript, containing very few errors among the millions of orthographic details that make up the Masoretic text. Thus, the Aleppo Codex is seen as the most authoritative source document for both the original biblical text and its vocalization (cantillation) as it has been proven to have been the most faithful to the Masoretic principles. The consonants in the codex were copied by the scribe Shlomo ben Buya'a in Israel circa 920. The text was then verified, vocalized, and provided with Masoretic notes by Aaron ben Asher. Ben-Asher was the last and most prominent member of the Ben-Asher dynasty of grammarians from Tiberias, which shaped the most accurate version of the Masorah and, therefore, the Hebrew Bible.
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The Aleppo Codex was the manuscript used by the rabbi and scholar Maimonides (1135-1204) when he set down the exact rules for writing scrolls of the Torah, Hilkhot Sefer Torah ("the Laws of the Torah Scroll") in his Mishneh Torah.[4] This halachic ruling gave the Aleppo Codex what is for Jews the seal of supreme textual authority, even though Maimonides only quoted it for paragraphing and other details of formatting, and not for the text itself (see discussion). "The codex which we used in these works is the codex known in Egypt, which includes 24 books, which was in Jerusalem," he wrote.
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The Leningrad Codex, which dates to approximately the same time as the Aleppo codex, has been claimed to be a product of the Ben-Asher scriptorium. However, its own colophon says only that it was corrected from manuscripts written by Ben-Asher; there is no evidence that Ben-Asher himself ever saw it.
  
 
==Hebrew Text==
 
==Hebrew Text==
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==Other Hebrew==
 
==Other Hebrew==
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* [[:wshe:תנ"ך|תנ"ך]]
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* [http://he.wikisource.org/w/index.php/תנ"ך תנ"ך]
  
 
==Other English==
 
==Other English==
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* [[:wsen:Bible (Jewish Publication Society 1917)|Bible (Jewish Publication Society 1917)]]
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* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_%28Jewish_Publication_Society_1917%29 Bible (Jewish Publication Society 1917)]
  
 
==Photographic Reproductions==
 
==Photographic Reproductions==

Revision as of 08:33, 26 November 2008

The Talmud Ketubot 106a states that a standard copy of the Hebrew Bible was kept in the court of the Temple in Jerusalem for the benefit of copyists; there were paid correctors of Biblical books among the officers of the Temple. This copy is mentioned in the Aristeas Letter (§ 30; comp. Blau, Studien zum Althebr. Buchwesen, p. 100); in the statements of Philo (preamble to his "Analysis of the Political Constitution of the Jews") and in Josephus (Contra Ap. i. 8).

The Talmud Yerushalmi Ta'anit lxviii. 1, perhaps referring to an earlier time, says that while the Temple was still standing, standard codices of the Pentateuch were officially recognized. These were deposited in the court of the Temple and served as models for accuracy. According to the passage quoted, three were known by the following names respectively: Sefer Me'on, called on account of its reading instead of Deutonomy 33#27; Sefer Za'aṭuṭe, because of its reading instead of Exodus 24#5; and "Sefer Hi," because of its reading with a yod in nine passages instead of eleven. The Masorites, too, seem to have consulted standard manuscripts celebrated for their accuracy in the redaction of the text and in the compilation of the Masoretic glosses.

Though only the Aleppo and Leningrad manuscripts have been preserved, the following are referred to as authorities in almost every manuscript of importance:

Codex Muggeh (ספר מוגה)

i.e., the corrected Codex: Quoted by the Masorites either by its full title () or simply as "Muggeh" ().

Codex Hilleli (ספר הללי)

The origin of its name is not known. According to Zacuto, this codex was written by a certain Hillel at about 600 of the common era. In his Chronicle, compiled about 1500, Zacuto expresses himself as follows:

"In the year 4957, on the twenty-eighth of Ab (Aug. 14, 1197), there was a great persecution of the Jews in the kingdom of Leon at the hand of the two kingdoms that came to besiege it. At that time they removed thence the twenty-four sacred books which were written about 600 years before. They were written by R. Hillel ben Moses ben Hillel, and hence his name was given to the codex, which was called 'Hilleli.' It was exceedingly correct; and all other codices were revised after it. I saw the remaining two parts of it, containing the Former and Latter Prophets, written in large and beautiful characters; these had been brought by the exiles to Portugal and sold at Bugia in Africa, where they still are, having been written about 900 years ago. Kimḥi in his grammar on Num. x. 4 says that the Pentateuch of the Hillel Codex was extant in Toledo."

Codex Sanbuki

Frequently quoted in the Masorah Parva, and highly praised for its accuracy by Menahem de Lonzano in his "Or Torah." According to Christian D. Ginsburg, the name of this codex is derived from "Zambuki" on the Tigris, to which community it belonged.

Codex Yerushalmi

As attested by Ḳimḥi ("Miklol," ed. Fürth, 1793, p. 184b), the codex was for many years in Saragossa, and was extensively used by the grammarian and lexicographer Ibn Janaḥ. It is often quoted in the Masorah as exhibiting a different orthography from that of the Codex Hilleli.

Codex Jericho, also called Jericho Pentateuch (חומש יריחו)

The name seems to imply that the manuscript embraced only the Pentateuch. It is mentioned by Elijah Levita, in "Shibre Luḥot," as most reliable for the accents.

Codex Sinai (ספר סיני)

Many opinions exist as to the derivation of its name. The most plausible is that it was derived from "Mount Sinai," just as the codices Jericho and Yerushalmi denote the places of their origin. It is mentioned in the Masorah, and is also cited by Elijah Levita in his work quoted above.

Codex Great Maḥzor (מחזורא רבה)

This probably contained the annual or triennial cycle ("Maḥzor") of lessons to be read on week-days, Sabbaths, feasts, and fasts; hence its name.

Codex Ezra

Quoted in the Masorah Parva. A manuscript professing to be a copy of this codex is in the possession of Christian D. Ginsburg.

Codex Babylon (ספר בבלי)

Differences (, "ḥillufin") existed between the Western schools (), the chief seat of which was Tiberias, and the Eastern (), the principal centers of which were Nehardea and Sura, in the reading of many passages; this codex gives the Eastern recension (see Masorah).

Another standard codex which served as a model at the time of Maimonides was that written in the tenth century by the renowned Masorite Aaron ben Moses ben Asher of Tiberias (compare Maimonides, "Yad," Sefer Torah, viii. 4). This codex was for a long time believed to be identical with that preserved in the synagogue at Aleppo (Jacob Saphir, , i. 12b; Grätz, in "Monatsschrift," 1871, p. 6; 1887, p. 30; Strack, "Prolegomena Critica," pp. 44-46). [E. N. Adler ("Kaufmann Gedenkbuch," p. 130) argues that the Aleppo Codex is a copy, not the original; but Wickes ("Hebrew Accentuation," Preface, p. vii., Oxford, 1887) makes it clear that "the statement assigning the codex to (Aaron ben Moses) Ben-Asher is a fabrication." E. G. H.

Aleppo Codex (כתר ארם צובא)

Two celebrated manuscripts believed to be very ancient are still extant in Syria. One of these, the Aleppo (Damascus) Codex, which, according to the inscription on its title-page (added, however, by a later hand), was written in the third century of the common era, belongs to a Jewish family of Damascus named Parḥi, and is exhibited to the inhabitants on feast-days. The other is kept in a grotto by the inhabitants of Jobar near Damascus.

The Aleppo Codex was at one time the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible,[1] however approximately one-third of it, including nearly all of the Torah, has been missing since 1947. It is considered the most authoritative document in the masorah ("transmission"), the tradition by which the Hebrew Scriptures have been preserved from generation to generation.[2] Surviving examples of responsa literature show the Aleppo Codex to have been consulted by far-flung Jewish scholars throughout the Middle Ages, and modern studies have shown it to be the most accurate representation of Masoretic principles to be found in any extant manuscript, containing very few errors among the millions of orthographic details that make up the Masoretic text. Thus, the Aleppo Codex is seen as the most authoritative source document for both the original biblical text and its vocalization (cantillation) as it has been proven to have been the most faithful to the Masoretic principles. The consonants in the codex were copied by the scribe Shlomo ben Buya'a in Israel circa 920. The text was then verified, vocalized, and provided with Masoretic notes by Aaron ben Asher. Ben-Asher was the last and most prominent member of the Ben-Asher dynasty of grammarians from Tiberias, which shaped the most accurate version of the Masorah and, therefore, the Hebrew Bible.

The Aleppo Codex was the manuscript used by the rabbi and scholar Maimonides (1135-1204) when he set down the exact rules for writing scrolls of the Torah, Hilkhot Sefer Torah ("the Laws of the Torah Scroll") in his Mishneh Torah.[4] This halachic ruling gave the Aleppo Codex what is for Jews the seal of supreme textual authority, even though Maimonides only quoted it for paragraphing and other details of formatting, and not for the text itself (see discussion). "The codex which we used in these works is the codex known in Egypt, which includes 24 books, which was in Jerusalem," he wrote.

The Leningrad Codex, which dates to approximately the same time as the Aleppo codex, has been claimed to be a product of the Ben-Asher scriptorium. However, its own colophon says only that it was corrected from manuscripts written by Ben-Asher; there is no evidence that Ben-Asher himself ever saw it.

Hebrew Text

English Text

Other Hebrew

Other English

Photographic Reproductions

References

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