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.
