Hebrew Bible Manuscripts

Hebrew Bible Manuscripts

A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. The word Bible comes from the Greek biblia (books); manuscript comes from Latin manu (hand) and scriptum (written). The original manuscript (the original parchment the author physically wrote on) is called the "autographa." Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see Tefillin) to huge polyglot codices (multi-lingual books) containing both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the New Testament, as well as extracanonical works.

The study of biblical manuscripts is important because handwritten copies of books can contain errors. The science of textual criticism attempts to reconstruct the original text of books, especially those published prior to the invention of the printing press.

Part of a series on
The Bible
Biblical canons and books
  • Tanakh
    • Torah
    • Nevi'im
    • Ketuvim
  • Christian biblical canons
  • Old Testament (OT)
  • New Testament (NT)
  • Hebrew Bible
  • Deuterocanon
  • Antilegomena
  • Chapters and verses
  • Apocrypha
    • Jewish
    • OT
    • NT
Development and authorship
  • Authorship
  • Hebrew canon
  • Old Testament canon
  • New Testament canon
  • Mosaic authorship
  • Pauline epistles
  • Johannine works
  • Petrine epistles
Translations and manuscripts
  • Samaritan Torah
  • Dead Sea scrolls
  • Masoretic text
  • Targums
  • Peshitta
  • Septuagint
  • Vulgate
  • Gothic Bible
  • Vetus Latina
  • Luther Bible
  • English Bibles
Biblical studies
  • Dating the Bible
  • Biblical criticism
  • Historical criticism
  • Textual criticism
  • Source criticism
  • Form criticism
  • Redaction criticism
  • Canonical criticism
  • Novum Testamentum Graece
  • Documentary hypothesis
  • Wiseman hypothesis
  • Synoptic problem
  • NT textual categories
  • Historicity
  • People
  • Places
  • Names
  • Internal consistency
  • Archeology
  • Artifacts
  • Science and the Bible
Interpretation
  • Hermeneutics
  • Pesher
  • Midrash
  • Pardes
  • Allegorical interpretation
  • Literalism
  • Prophecy
  • Inspiration
Perspectives
  • Gnostic
  • Islamic
  • Qur'anic
  • Christianity and Judaism
  • Inerrancy
  • Infallibility
  • Criticism of the Bible
  • Bible book
  • Bible portal

Read more about Hebrew Bible Manuscripts:  Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) Manuscripts, New Testament Manuscripts, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words hebrew and/or manuscripts:

    “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
    —Bible: Hebrew Genesis 2:7.

    “Anyone who has invented a better mousetrap, or the contemporary equivalent, can expect to be harassed by strangers demanding that you read their unpublished manuscripts or undergo the humiliation of public speaking, usually on remote Midwestern campuses.”
    —Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)