Manuscript

Aleppo Codex

Also known as Keter Aram Tzova · Crown of Aleppo

masoreticold-testamenthebrew-bible

Summary

A 10th-century Hebrew manuscript of the entire Tanakh with full Masoretic apparatus; considered one of the most authoritative witnesses to the Masoretic Text.

Copied c. AD 920-930.
Written in hebrew (with aramaic masoretic apparatus) on parchment.
Kept at Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum; Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem.
Contains Tanakh (partial — Pentateuch largely missing).

A page of the Aleppo Codex: Hebrew text with Tiberian vowel points and Masoretic notes in the margins — The Aleppo Codex, a page of Deuteronomy: public domain

Sources (3)

Aleppo Codex Online (Ben-Zvi Institute digital facsimile) · accessed 2026-04-17Primary digital source.
Wikipedia: Aleppo Codex · accessed 2026-04-17CC-BY-SA.
Jewish Encyclopedia (1906): Manuscripts, Bible · accessed 2026-04-17Public domain background.

What it is

The Aleppo Codex is a manuscript of the Hebrew Bible produced in Tiberias in the first half of the 10th century CE, traditionally associated with the scribe Shlomo ben Buya'a and the masoretic authority Aharon ben Asher. It was originally a complete codex of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) with the full masoretic vowel pointing, cantillation, and marginal annotations. For centuries it was held by the Jewish community of Aleppo, Syria (hence its name).

During anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo in December 1947, the synagogue housing the codex was burned; the codex was recovered but approximately one-third of its leaves are missing — most notably almost all of the Pentateuch up through Deuteronomy 28. The surviving leaves are now held at the Shrine of the Book in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Zvi Institute.

The codex is widely regarded by textual scholars as the most authoritative single witness to the Ben Asher masoretic tradition and, where intact, is used as the base text of critical editions such as the Hebrew University Bible Project.

Manuscript details

Date: c. AD 920-930
Language: Hebrew (with Aramaic Masoretic apparatus)
Script: Square Hebrew with tiberian pointing
Material: Parchment
Held at: Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum; Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem
Found at: Preserved in Aleppo, Syria until 1947; partially damaged in anti-Jewish riots that year and subsequently recovered
Contains: Tanakh (partial — Pentateuch largely missing)

Why it matters

The Aleppo Codex is the preeminent representative of the Ben Asher masoretic tradition and serves as the base text for the Hebrew University Bible Project edition. Along with the Leningrad Codex (which is complete and roughly a century younger), it establishes the standard Masoretic Text that undergirds every modern Hebrew Bible and every Christian Old Testament that translates from the Hebrew. The fact that approximately one-third of its leaves were lost in 1947 is one of the great textual-historical tragedies of the 20th century; the surviving portions remain foundational to Hebrew Bible scholarship.

The passages the manuscripts argue over

The words used here: Masoretic Text, codex

Masoretic Text: the Hebrew Bible copied and pointed by Jewish scribes, the text the KJV and the ASV translate.
codex: a book with leaves and a spine, the form that replaced the scroll.

The places where the manuscripts differ, the ending of Mark, the woman caught in adultery, the three heavenly witnesses, with the case each way.

Where the manuscripts differ, all 15 places →Every handwritten copy, shelved and in date order →