Masoretes

[A.D. Riddle]

Is there a published historical-biographical study of the Masoretes? I am interested in something that is less a discussion of their work, and more a study of what we know about the individuals, families, geopolitics of the time, and so forth.

 

Thanks,

A.D.

[Ben Denckla]

I think the record is thin. And my knowledge of scholarship on that record is even thinner. But, a couple of recommendations:

• Beth Owen's PhD thesis summarizes some of what we know (I think her main source is Dotan's entry on Masorah in Encyclopedia Judaica). (Search for "ben Asher".)
• There's a couple of interviews with Dr Kim Phillips on YouTube (Kedem, N. Gordon); in one or both of them I think he touches on a letter discovered where the scribe of the Leningrad Codex is looking for work in a city he's just arrived at!

[A.D. Riddle]

Yes, the Enc Judaica "Mesorah" article was the best I have been able to find thus far. Part 6 is about 6 pages on "Masoretes and Grammarians."

I will check out the resources you suggested. Thank you.

 

A.D.