English

Noun

Masoret ‎(plural Masorets)

1. Alternative form of Masorete
   • 1838, George Townsend, The New Testament, arranged in chronological and historical order, with copious notes on the principal subjects in theology:

     The Masorets, by their great care and diligence, have left us an edition of the Old Testament, which secures the text from all interpolations, while it checks also the licentiousness of conjectural criticism, and gives a definite meaning to many obscure passages; at the same time, it by no means precludes the labours of the learned from aiming at greater accuracy in their attempts to understand Scripture, as the sense which the Masorets may have put upon any passage can only be said to be highly probable: the meaning of Scripture in all cases being derivable from the words, and not from the vowel points, or any arbitrary divisions.

   • 1889, John MacDevitt, Introduction to the Sacred Scriptures: In Two Parts, page 13:

     Having thus fixed the correct reading, the Masorets determined to prevent as far as possible, the danger of any future departure from it.

   • 2009, John A. Peck, Called to Serve, ISBN 1435741943, page 4:

     It is a version of the Hebrew Old Testament, translated from 700-1000 a.d. (yes, that's right) by the Masorets, Jewish scholars trying to translate the Old Testament back into Hebrew from fragments of existing Hebrew, oral tradition, and the Septuagint.

2. A Masorah.
   • 1827, Johann Jahn, Samuel Hulbeart Turner, & William Rollinson Whittingham, An Introduction to the Old Testament, page 160:

     ...the transcribers themselves have candidly intimated by the suspended Nun that סשמ is the genuine reading, and the Masorets also expressly state, that the Nun was inserted, in order that the first idolatrous priest should not be said to be a grandson of Moses.

   • 1860, Johann Jakob Herzog, The Protestant Theological and Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia, page 413:

     Where the Keri's have to do with exegesis or grammar, by far the largest part of them proceed immediately from the Masorets themselves.

   • 2001, B. Barry Levy, Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law, ISBN 019514113X:

     This is surprising, because in the Masoret it is plene, but we have found that the Masoret disagrees with the Talmud in Tractate Shabbat [55b].

English

Noun

masoret ‎(plural masorets)

1. An unwritten tradition orally passed down as law by the Hebrews.
   • 2011, Ra'anan S. Boustan, ‎Oren Kosansky, & ‎Marina Rustow, Jewish Studies at the Crossroads of Anthropology and History, ISBN 0812204867:

     The rough correspondence between these concepts and “native” Jewish ideas such as masoret (authoritative tradition) and galut (exile) further helps to explain their enduring status in the field.

   • 2014, Richard Fiedler, Sod Ha'ibur, ISBN 0990357708, page 77:

     From the above, it would seem that Rabban Gamliel had a different masoret from R' Yehoshua, one that was a very well-kept secret.

   • 2015, Herbert Basser & ‎Marsha B. Cohen, The Gospel of Matthew and Judaic Traditions, ISBN 9004291784:

     “The Sadducees say that there is a tradition (masoret) in the hands of the Pharisees to afflict themselves,” according to 'Abot R. Nat. A (end chap. 12).

Anagrams

• maestro