The Masora Magna Of Two Biblical Fragments From The Cairo Genizah, And The Unusual Practice Of The Scribe Behind The Leningrad Codex -- By: Kim Phillips

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 67:2 (NA 2016)
Article: The Masora Magna Of Two Biblical Fragments From The Cairo Genizah, And The Unusual Practice Of The Scribe Behind The Leningrad Codex
Author: Kim Phillips


The Masora Magna Of Two Biblical Fragments From The Cairo Genizah, And The Unusual Practice Of The Scribe Behind The Leningrad Codex

Kim Phillips

([email protected])

Summary

As a rule, no two Tiberian Bibles are alike when it comes to their masoretic notes. Indeed, the masora magna notes can be thought of as part of the unique fingerprint of each individual manuscript. Notwithstanding, this study presents the first evidence of two Pentateuch codices containing identical masora magna, and explores how these codices relate to one another. Both these codices were the work of Samuel b. Jacob, the scribe who wrote the Leningrad Codex. Thus this study contributes to our understanding of the scribal habits of this important figure.

1. Introduction: The Variety in the Masora Magna of Tiberian Masoretic Codices

Prima facie, the model Tiberian Bible codices from the tenth and eleventh centuries are the epitome of uniformity and precision in textual transmission. Most obviously, the orthography preserves a textual tradition at least a millennium old — as witnessed by many of the non-Qumranic Dead Sea Scroll fragments. At a more synchronic level, the range of consonantal, vocalic, and accentual deviation among the best witnesses of the Tiberian masoretic tradition is — overall — astonishingly minute.

On the other hand, the masoretic notes found in these codices show no such uniformity. At the visual level, this is true in terms of the

layout of the masora magna (the longer notes found in the upper and lower margins of the Model Tiberian Bible codices). A cursory glance at the best known of these codices reveals a wide range of arrangements for the masora magna: from the rather sparse, austere notes above and below each of the three columns per page in the Aleppo Codex, to the densely written masoretic notes written in multiple long lines across the entire page, above and below the biblical text (and even in the outer margins of the page), in Or. 4445.

The variety in the masora of the Tiberian model codices is not limited to its layout. The content of the notes varies widely from codex to codex. Unlike the Babylonian tradition, the Tiberian masoretic tradition did not have a standardised text for the masoretic notes.1 Rather, each Masorete or scribe selected a subset of notes (perhaps according to interest and/or availability) from a vast pool of masoretic notes, with which to adorn his Bible codex. This applies equally to the masora parva (the brief, inter-columnar notes) as to the masora magna.

Yeivin discusses this lack of uniformity in ...

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