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THE MASSORAH
The King James version of the Bible is the closest to the original texts. I like the KJV Companion Bible, which can be found here, or here.
It has notes about the history and background of periods the Bible is talking about. It also alerts you to when things have been mistranslated – it takes you back to the original Hebrew, Greek, or Chaldee word & translates it correctly, which could change a meaning of a verse so that it makes more sense to you.
The Massorah is explained in Appendix 30 of the Companion Bible:
All the oldest and best manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible contain on every page, beside the Text (which is arranged in two or more columns), a varying number of lines of smaller writing, distributed between the upper and lower margins. This smaller writing is called the Massorah Magna or Great Massorah, while that in the side margins and between the columns is called the Massorah Parva or Small Massorah.
The illustration given is a reduced facsimile of a Hebrew Manuscript (16.25 inches × 12.375), written in a German hand, about the year A.D. 1120.
The small writing in the margins in this particular Manuscript is seen to occupy seven lines in the lower margin, and four lines in the upper; while in the outer margins and between the three columns is the Massorah Parva.
The word Massorah is from the root masar, to deliver something into the hand of another, so as to commit it to his trust. Hence the name is given to the small writing referred to, because it contains information necessary to those into whose trust the Sacred Text was committed, so that they might transcribe it, and hand it down correctly.
The Text itself had been fixed before the Massorites were put in charge of it. This had been the work of the Sopherim (from saphar, to count, or number). Their work, under Ezra and Nehemiah, was to set the Text in order after the return from Babylon; and we read of it in Nehemiah 8:8 (compare Ezra 7:6, 11). The men of "the Great Synagogue" completed the work. This work lasted about 110 years, from Nehemiah to Simon the first, 410-300 B.C.
The Sopherim were the authorized revisers of the Sacred Text; and, their work being completed, the Massorites were the authorized custodians of it. Their work was to preserve it. The Massorah is called "A Fence to the Scriptures," because it locked all words and letters in their places. It does not contain notes or comments as such, but facts and phenomena. It records the number of times the several letters occur in the various books of the Bible; the number of words, and the middle word; the number of verses, and the middle verse; the number of expressions and combinations of words, etc.
All this, not from a perverted ingenuity, but for the set purpose of safeguarding the Sacred Text, and preventing the loss or misplacement of a single letter or word.
This Massorah is not contained in the margins of any one Manuscript. No Manuscript contains the whole, or even the same part. It is spread over many Manuscripts, and Dr. C.D. Ginsburg has been the first and only scholar who has set himself to collect and collate the whole, copying it from every available Manuscript in the libraries of many countries. He has published it in three large folio volumes, and only a small number of copies has been printed. These are obtainable only by the original subscribers.
When the Hebrew Text was printed, only the large type in the columns was regarded, and the small type of the Massorah was left, unheeded, in the Manuscripts from which the Text was taken.
When translators came to the printed Hebrew Text, they were necessarily destitute of the information contained in the Massorah; so that the Revisers, as well as the Translators of the Authorized Version, carried out their work without any idea of the treasures contained in the Massorah; and therefore, without giving a hint of it to their readers.
This is the first time that an edition of the Authorized Version has been given containing any of these treasures of the Massorah, that affect so seriously the understanding of the Text. A vast number of the Massoretic notes concern only the orthography, and matters that pertain to the Concordance. But many of those which affect the sense, or throw any additional light on the Sacred Text, are noted in the margin of The Companion Bible.
Some of the important lists of words which are contained in the Massorah are also given, namely, those that have the "extraordinary points" (Appendix 31); the "eighteen emendations" of the Sopherim (see Appendix 33); the 134 passages where they substituted Adonai for Jehovah (see Appendix 32); and the Various Readings called Severin (see Appendix 34). These are given in separate Appendixes; but other words of any importance are preserved in our marginal notes.
Readers of The Companion Bible are put in possession of information denied to former generations of translators, commentators, critics, and general Bible students.
For further information on the Massorah see Dr. Ginsburg's Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, of which only a limited edition was printed; also a small pamphlet on The Massorah published by King's Printers.
https://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/AP/ap30/index.html?page=1
https://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/AP/ap93/index.html?page=1
bible evidence, faith and religion
TOP 10 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY DISCOVERIES - NEW TESTAMENT
10 Sergius Paulus Inscriptions. In Acts 13, Saul & Barnabas set off on a mission trip and landed on the island of Cyprus. When they arrived at Paphos, they led proconsul Sergius Paulus to faith in Christ. Several Sergius Paulus inscriptions have been found. They affirm that Sergius Paulus was the proconsul of Cyprus, from a very prominent family, at the time the Bible says he was. Acts 13:7:
Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
9 The Pool of Siloam. In John 9:7, Jesus heals a blind man:
And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
The Pool of Siloam is a large pool discovered in 2004 with about 20 steps leading down from the street into the pool. Pottery from one end of the pool dates from the 1st century AD. Pottery from the other end of the pool dates it to the Old Testament period.
8 The Erastus Inscription. Paul's letter from Corinth to the Romans sends greetings from a man named Erastus, the city treasurer. Romans 16:23:
Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.
The Erastus Inscription, which dates from the middle of the first century AD, reads, “Erastus in return for his ship laid the pavement at his own expense,” and correlates with the dating of Paul's letter.
7 The Caiaphas Ossuary. An ossuary was a stone box used by the Jewish people for bones for a brief period in the 1st century AD. The Caiaphas Ossuary contained the bones of a 60 year old man. On this stone box was the inscription, “Joseph, son of Caiaphas”. Scholars believe these bones belong to the high priest who presided over the trial of Jesus. John 11:49-53: 49:
And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. 53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
6 The Temple Inscriptions. When you read the Gospels, you see that Jesus spent a lot of time at the Temple with His disciples. The Temple is the Jewish Holy Site of utmost importance. Two inscriptions have been found. The first one is called the Temple Warning Inscription – it warned that Gentiles couldn't go past their own court under pain of death. “No foreigner is to enter within the railing and enclosure around the Temple. Whoever is caught will be responsible for his subsequent death.” Jesus walked past this stone numerous times.
The Trumpeting Inscription from the Temple is a 3-foot long stone block that had fallen when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. It reads, “To the place of trumpeting.” Josephus described how the priests would blow the trumpets. Ezra 3:10:
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
These inscriptions are the clearest archaeological evidence testifying to the second Temple, the place Jesus was familiar with.
5 The Nazareth Inscription. An edict of Caesar dating to the reign of Claudius, this inscription imposes a death penalty in Israel to anyone who is caught stealing bodies from family tombs, specifically sepulchre sealing tombs like the one Jesus was buried in. Why would Caesar feel the need to make such a decree? Tombs were robbed, but the thieves took the treasures, not the bodies. The Bible records that the Jewish leaders made up this story and started spreading it around that the disciples had stolen Jesus' body when He rose from the dead. Matthew 28:13:
Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
Likely, this report had reached Caesar's ears, and he might have seen this new Christian sect as a dangerous anti-Roman movement. Dr. Clyde Billington has studied this, and he concludes that the context of the Nazareth Inscription clearly proves it was written for Jews and not Gentiles, and that it was almost certainly issued by Claudius in response to the story of Jesus of Nazareth rising from the dead.
4 The Gallio Inscription. Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth on his second missionary journey. In Acts 18:12, we read that when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. The Gallio Inscription, dated to 52 AD, is an inscription by Emperor Claudius in which he references “Junius Gallio my friend and proconsul.”
We now have a chronological anchor that allows us to date most of what happened to the apostle Paul. Proconsuls only served for one years' time, so Paul was likely brought before Gallio in 51 AD. From here, we can do the math from the chronological markers in the Book of Acts.
3 The Pilate Stone. One of the most infamous figures in the New Testament is Pontius Pilate, the man who sentenced Jesus to death. This stone was part of a dedication to Tiberius Caesar, put there by Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea. This confirms his title, and that he was indeed an historical figure.
2 The John Rylands Library Papyrus. This papyrus is a small fragment of the New Testament that contains part of John 18:31-33 on one side, and John 18:37-38 on the other side. It has been dated to about 125-175 AD. Early Church history records that the apostle John did his writing late in the 1st century AD. This papyrus is a copy that dates to within 100 years after John wrote it. Since it was found in Egypt, it shows that Gospel manuscripts were being copied and distributed. To date, over 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament have been found. There are thousands more in other languages.
1 Heel Bone of Crucified Man. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the most important event to Christians around the world. Many writers have described Roman crucifixions, but now we have the actual heel bone of a man who was crucified.
After archaeologists dug up several tombs in East Jerusalem, they found several ossuaries. Inside the ossuary of “Yehohanan the son of Hagakol” was found a heel bone with a nail still embedded in it. This allowed archaeologists to analyze Roman crucifixion for the first time through an artifact. This confirms the Biblical description of the crucifixion of Jesus as in Matthew. Mark, Luke, and John.
bible evidence, faith and religion
