Masoretic
/ˌmæsəˈrɛtɪk/noun
Relating to the Masoretes or to the standardized Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible that they transmitted and annotated.
Did you know?Masoretic scribes counted letters, words, and verses to guard the biblical text against alteration, treating written transmission almost like a sacred ritual of textual protection.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical and Late Antique Periods
Hebrew/Aramaic
מסורה / masorah
“Tradition or transmitted teaching; the term is associated with the handing down of textual knowledge.”
Late Antique Period
Jewish Aramaic
מסר / masar
“To hand over, deliver, or transmit; the Semitic root underlying the terminology.”
6th–10th Century
Hebrew
בעלי המסורה / baʿale ha-masorah
““Masters of the tradition,” the Jewish scholars who preserved, vocalized, and annotated the Hebrew biblical text.”
9th–10th Century
Hebrew
מסורת / masoret
“The received textual tradition, including pronunciation marks, cantillation signs, and scribal notes.”
10th–11th Century
Medieval Hebrew
Masoretic
“An English and European scholarly adjective referring to the Masoretes and their textual tradition.”
Modern English
English
Masoretic
“Relating especially to the Masoretic Text, the medieval standardized form of the Hebrew Bible.”