Manuscript
The Cairo Codex of the Prophets
Also known as Codex Cairensis · Cairo Codex · C3
A Hebrew Bible of the Prophets whose scribe signed and dated it — and whose date scholars have been arguing about ever since.
hebrew-bibleold-testamentmasoretic-textprophets
Overview
The Cairo Codex of the Prophets(Colophon: AD 895. Contested — a number of scholars place the surviving manuscript in the tenth or eleventh century and read the colophon as copied from an older exemplar.)— Written at Tiberias according to its colophon; long held by the Cairo Karaite community
It carries the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve), with full Masoretic pointing.
Its colophon says it was written in Tiberias in AD 895 by Moses ben Asher, of the great family of Masoretic scribes. If that is right, it is the oldest dated Hebrew Bible manuscript there is.
That "if" is real. Some specialists read the colophon as copied from an older exemplar and place the manuscript itself in the tenth or eleventh century, and the vocalisation has been read as belonging to a different scribal tradition than Ben Asher's. MannaFest reports the claim and the doubt together rather than choosing.
It belonged to the Karaite community in Cairo.
Manuscript Details
- Date
- Colophon: AD 895. Contested — a number of scholars place the surviving manuscript in the tenth or eleventh century and read the colophon as copied from an older exemplar.
- Language
- Hebrew
- Script
- Square Hebrew with Tiberian vowel points and accents
- Material
- Parchment
- Current location
- Karaite community, Cairo
- Discovery location
- Written at Tiberias according to its colophon; long held by the Cairo Karaite community
- Contains books
- Joshua · Judges · 1–2 Samuel · 1–2 Kings · Isaiah · Jeremiah · Ezekiel · The Twelve
- Tags
- hebrew-bible · old-testament · masoretic-text · prophets
Significance
It is the closest thing the Hebrew Bible has to a signed and dated masterwork from the family of scribes who fixed the text — and a working example of why a date written inside a book is evidence to be weighed, not a fact to be repeated.
The passages the manuscripts argue over
The places where the manuscripts differ — the ending of Mark, the woman caught in adultery, the three heavenly witnesses — with the case each way.