How the Bible Got It’s Vowels and Punctuation
The oldest copy of the Hebrew Bible still in existence today is about 1000 years old. A group called the “Masoretes” (from as early as 600 and definitely by 800 C.E.) attempted to record and annotate what has become the “authentic” version of the Hebrew Scriptures. Their work is recognized today by Jewish religious leaders as being authentic. This group’s name comes from Hebrew word “MESORAH” which refers to the transmission of a tradition, which can refer either to the entire chain of Jewish tradition (i.e. the Oral Law). But when referring to the masoretic text, the word “MESORAH” has a very specific meaning: the diacritic markings of the text of the Hebrew Bible and the margin notes in manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible which note textual details, usually about the precise spelling of words.
The Masoretes (sometimes called “Masorites”) apparently became dissatisfied with the traditional Hebrew text since it was written without vowels, or at least only with the three consonsants which can be treated as vowels (Yud, Hei, Vav). These three letters became known by their Latin name “matres lectiones”, which literally means “mother of meaning”. In other words, it was very difficult to read Hebrew without vowels until these three “helper” letters became used as vowels. They are also known in Hebrew as “Am Qiria” (mother of reading). The Yud and Vav are more often vowels than consonants.
The Masoretes began adding diacritic marks to provide information not found in the original Hebrew. For example, the letters SHIN and MEM-SOFIT can be read “SHEM” (meaning: name) or “SHAM” (meaning: there). Thus, a person reading the Biblical text would have to read “SHEM” or “SHAM” depending on the context. By adding vowel marks above, below, or in the middle of the consonants, the Masoretes made it obvious that the correct reading is either SHEM or SHAM. Basically, they added the “AH” sound (with a QAMATZ) or the “EH” sound a TZEREH. Later, some Latin-based language also added disacritical marks, such as the tilda, grave acccent, and umlaut.
Thus the reader has to use the context of the sentence and paragraph to determine which is the correct pronunication. The meanings of the three words are: SHEM (there), SHAM (there) and SAM (put). Thus, a vowel was needed to distinguish between the “AH” and “EH” vowel sound, and some mark was need to distinguish between the “S” and the “SH” sound. Later, some Latin languages added similar symbols, such as the accent mark or the Spanish Tilda symbol.
This group accomplished yet another useful function. In a Torah scroll, for example, most of the sentences run together, with only an occasional white space. The Masoretes added small amounts of punctuation, basically periods and the equivalent of a hyphen. Beyond the above, they added an intricate musical system for singing the text in liturgical settings.
The Ben Asher family of masoretes was largely responsible for the preservation and production of the Masoretic Text, although an alternate Masoretic text of the Ben Naphtali masoretes which differs slightly from the Ben Asher text existed. The halakhic authority Maimonides endorsed the Ben Asher as superior, although the Egyptian Jewish scholar, Saadya Gaon al-Fayyumi, had preferred the Ben Naphtali system.
When most people think of “the Hebrew Bible”, most are referring to one copied from “The Leningrad Codex” (which was produced according to the Tiberian Masorah). The word “codex” comes from the Latin “block of wood” and is a book in the format of modern books , with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. It was a Roman invention that replaced scrolls. The Leningrad Codex dates from approximately 1009 C.E., and it is the oldest surviving complete copy of the Hebrew Bible, and is housed in the Russian National Library. The Leningrad Codex, in extraordinarily pristine condition after a millennium, also provides an example of medieval Jewish art. Sixteen of the pages contain decorative geometric patterns that illuminate passages from the text.
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