Glossary

Terms for the Masora, manuscripts, and the biblical text, with Hebrew forms and transliterations

A

Anchor wordMasora

The word in the biblical text that a masoretic note is about.

In the manuscript, the anchor word often has a small circle (circellus) above it. In the composer, you draw a box around the anchor word on the image and give its verse.

C

CatchwordMasora

A word or short phrase from a verse that a note quotes to identify one occurrence of the anchor word.

A Masora Magna note usually gives one catchword for each occurrence it counts. The reader finds the verse that contains the catchword. The composer looks up the verse for each catchword when you process a note.

CircellusMasora

A small circle written above a word in the biblical text to show that a masoretic note refers to it.

D

Defective spellingחסרḥaserBiblical text

A spelling without a vowel letter (ו or י) where one could be written.

E

Elaborative noteMasora

A Masora Magna note that counts the occurrences of a word and gives a catchword for each one.

It usually starts with the anchor word and a number, for example ג׳ (three), often followed by וסימנהון and the catchwords. Some elaborative notes also give the spelling at each place.

F

FolioManuscripts

One leaf of a manuscript. Each folio has two sides: the recto (front) and the verso (back).

Pages are cited by folio number and side, for example 15v for the verso of folio 15.

G

GenizahגניזהgenizahManuscripts

A storeroom where worn-out texts with sacred content were put away instead of being destroyed.

The Cairo Genizah kept hundreds of thousands of manuscript fragments, many of them biblical. Leaves from one codex are now often held by different libraries.

K

KetivכתיבketivBiblical text

“What is written.” The form of a word as it is written in the text, when the tradition reads it differently.

Masoretic notes also use the abbreviation כת׳ to mean “written”, for example to give the spelling of a word at one occurrence.

L

LeitליתleitMasora

“There is none.” An Aramaic note that a form occurs only here, often abbreviated ל׳.

LocatorMasora

A word in a note that tells you where an occurrence is, such as a book or a person in the passage.

For example, דאברהם means “in the passage about Abraham”. In the composer, a locator is one of the roles a part of the note can have.

M

MasoraמסורהmasorahMasora

The notes that scribes wrote around the biblical text to keep its exact wording, spelling, vowels, and accents.

The Masora has two main parts: the Masora Parva in the side margins and the Masora Magna in the top and bottom margins.

Masora Magnaמסורה גדולהmasorah gedolahMasora

The longer masoretic notes in the top and bottom margins of a page. They often list each occurrence of a word.

Masora Parvaמסורה קטנהmasorah qeṭannahMasora

The short masoretic notes in the side margins and between the columns, usually a number or an abbreviation.

A typical note is a Hebrew numeral that says how many times a form occurs, for example ב׳ (twice).

Masoretesבעלי המסורהbaʿalei ha-masorahMasora

The scholars and scribes who kept and wrote down the Masora, mainly between the 7th and 11th centuries.

N

NaqdanנקדןnaqdanManuscripts

The specialist who added the vowel points and accents to a manuscript, and often the Masora.

O

Occurrence countMasora

The number in a masoretic note that says how many times a form occurs, written with Hebrew letters.

For example, ג׳ means three. Dots over the numeral can also be part of the note. In an elaborative note, the count should match the number of catchwords.

P

PalimpsestManuscripts

A manuscript page that was scraped or washed and written on again. The earlier text can sometimes still be read.

ParchmentManuscripts

Animal skin prepared for writing. Most early Hebrew Bible codices are written on parchment.

Q

QereקריqereBiblical text

“What is read.” The form that the tradition reads aloud when it differs from what is written (the ketiv).

R

Reconstructed manuscriptManuscripts

A manuscript whose surviving leaves are held in different places, put back together in the viewer in their original order.

S

ScribeסופרsoferManuscripts

The person who wrote out the consonantal text of a manuscript.

T

TeʿamimטעמיםteʿamimBiblical text

The accent signs that show how a verse is chanted and how its words group together.

V

Ve-simanehonוסימנהוןve-simanehonMasora

“And their signs.” An Aramaic formula that comes before the list of catchwords in a Masora Magna note.

See also: Siman, Catchword, Elaborative note

VerseפסוקpasuqBiblical text

One verse of the biblical text. Masoretic notes often count words or forms per verse.