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The Telegraph Journal, in an article published on Saturday, September 27, 2008, describes the search for the missing pages of the Aleppo Codex. The following are a few excerpts from the article:

A quest is under way on four continents to find the missing pages of one of the world’s most important holy texts, the 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible known as the Crown of Aleppo.

Crusaders held it for ransom, fire almost destroyed it and it was reputedly smuggled across Mideast borders hidden in a washing machine. But in 1958, when it finally reached Israel, 196 pages were missing – about 40 per cent of the total – and for some Old Testament scholars they have become a kind of holy grail.

The Codex, on 491 parchment pages about 30 centimetres by 25 centimetres, was transcribed sometime around 930 A.D. by Shlomo Ben Boya’a, a scribe in Tiberias on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. It was edited by a renowned scholar of the time, Aaron Ben-Asher. Its completion marked the end of a centuries-long process that created the final text of the Hebrew Bible.

According to the news report, the Codex is missing entire books, including most of the five books of Moses, the book of Esther, and the book of Daniel.

A study of the Codex will help scholars ascertain the accuracy of the biblical text and the Masoretic use of vowel signs and letters that could slightly alter pronunciation of some words.
According to Rafael Zer, of the Hebrew University Bible Project in Jerusalem, the Codex will be used to create what probably will become the authoritative text of the Old Testament.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Aleppo Codex, Bible, Manuscripts

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