Aleppo Codex

A page of the codex ( Deuteronomy ).

The Codex of Aleppo (in Hebrew is the oldest known version of the Hebrew Bible by Massor Tiberian. It was written between 910 and 930 of our era.

Although it is more complete since 1947 (about one third of its pages missing, including most of the Torah ), unlike the Leningrad Codex , it remains the highest authority on Massor (transmission "The tradition in which the Hebrew Scriptures have been preserved through generations . These edicts halachic codex Aleppo give the seal of supreme authority, although Maimonides is used only about open and closed sections , not the text itself.

Writing and Publishing codex

Indications are left in the final pages of the codex, its consonants were copied by a scribe named Shlomo ben Bouya'a in Palestine around 920. The text was then verified, vocalized, and provided with Masoretic notes by Aaron ben Moshe ben Asher. This was the last and most illustrious descendant of the Ben Asher, scribes and Masoretes prominent for five generations, having established the most accurate version of Massor, so the Hebrew Bible.

The Leningrad Codex , dated to the same period, has a reputation for being out of the scriptorium Ben Asher. However, according to his own colophon , it was only corrected after the manuscripts written by Ben Asher, and there is no evidence to prove that Ben Asher would have been under the eyes.

Content of the codex

The codex was complete until 1947, but by that time, the anti-Jewish riots in Syria have considerably damaged.

It is possible, in light of research on the Aleppo Codex (mainly the description was Umberto Cassuto before his disappearance), reproducing its structure. It seems that the codex Aleppo had 491 pages, of which 295 have survived, and 196 lost. The lost parts of the Aleppo Codex is :

1. The first seven pages, which included chapters Diqdouq haMassora, comment grammatical - Masoretic.
2. One hundred eighteen pages, containing the Pentateuch to Deuteronomy 28:17.
3. Three pages of the second book of Kings (2 Kings 14:21-18:13).
4. Three pages of the book of Jeremiah (29:9-31:34) - and the page before this hole is partially torn.
5. Three pages of the 12 prophets ( Minor Prophets ) - Amos 8:13 to Micah 5:1.
6. Four pages from the end of the 12 prophets - the end of the Book of Zephaniah to the Book of Zechariah 9:17 (including the Book of Haggai ).
7. Two pages of the Psalms (15:1-25:1).
8. Thirty-six pages of other writings - from the Song of Solomon 3:11 to end (including the Ecclesiastes , the Book of Lamentations , the Book of Esther , the Book of Daniel , the Book of Ezra and Book of Nehemiah.
9. A page from the part containing the authors and owners of the codex.
10. Twenty pages at the end of the codex, with annotation Masoretic.

As the Leningrad Codex , the Aleppo Codex follows the order of books in the tradition of Tiberias, which is different from other Bibles in Hebrew section Ketuvim or order is: Chronicles , Psalms , Job , Proverbs , Ruth , Song of Songs , Ecclesiastes , Lamentations , Esther , Daniel , Ezra-Nehemiah.

History of the codex

According to the codex page indicating its authors and its owners, the book was dedicated to the middle of the ^eleventh century , the community Karaite Karaite of Jerusalem by Simcha Ben Yisrael, from Basra ( Iraq today). It is unclear if he had stayed before in the Ben Asher family, or had already been sold to the Karaites before its dedication by them to the community of Jerusalem . This second hypothesis is particularly supported by the Karaites themselves, because it allows them to support the possibility that the famous Masoretes Aharon ben Moshe ben Asher a Karaite was himself.

Following the destruction of Karaite center of Jerusalem at the time of the first crusade , the book is found in Egypt in unknown circumstances, perhaps after paying a ransom to the Crusaders (such manuscript was already a huge value). This is where it is used by Maimonides (the latter described in his Mishneh Torah , a book of 24 rolls, edited by Aharon ben Moshe ben Asher , who came from the land of Israel, such a description is fully codex).

The community of Aleppo, owner of the codex, has a tradition that he belonged to Maimonides. Recorded for the first time in the ^fifteenth century , it is based on the testimony of Saadia Adani , a contemporary of Maimonides. The assumption that the codex was used by Maimonides is credible, but not certain: Professor Cassuto, who had worked on the book, has repeatedly stated (without explanation) before his death in 1951, he believed not this theory. In his 1989 book The Aleppo Codex in the Light Of The notes made by MD Cassuto, Ofer Yosef concludes that Professor Cassuto was wrong and that the book is the one cited by Maimonides .
In Egypt, the codex would have won Aleppo ( Syria today), perhaps the late ^fourteenth century , where he remained until the ^twentieth century.

On 2 December 1947, when anti-Jewish riots which followed the decision of the UN to create a Jewish state on part of Palestine , the codex was thrown to the ground and scattered. Despite what is often said, we found no trace of fire, but some of the pages are missing, presumably taken away by mobs or by members of the community . It is possible that they have burned, but the rest of the codex is not a trace of flame.

The codex was then hidden for ten years by the Jewish community of Syria , until he arrives in Israel in 1958. On the missing parts, a page was returned in December 1982 by a Jewish family of Aleppo emigrated to Brooklyn , USA . The codex is now on display in the Shrine of the Book of the Israel Museum, in the copy of the Scroll of Isaiah.

References

Notes

Related articles

• Leningrad Codex
• Aharon ben Moshe ben Asher

External Links

• The Aleppo Codex Website
• The history of the codex and its importance , by Yosef Ofer (pdf)
• Israel Museum, Shrine of the Book.
• Mechon Mamre - electronic text of the Hebrew Bible based on the Aleppo Codex].
• History of Aleppo Codex
• Copies of Aleppo Codex (in Hebrew )

• Portal of Jewish culture and Judaism
• Bible Portal

Leave a Reply