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Manuscript

The Cairo Codex of the Prophets

Also known as Codex Cairensis · Cairo Codex · C3
hebrew-bibleold-testamentmasoretic-textprophets

Summary

A Hebrew Bible of the Prophets whose scribe signed and dated it — and whose date scholars have been arguing about ever since.

  • Copied Colophon: AD 895. Contested — a number of scholars place the surviving manuscript in the tenth or eleventh century and read the colophon as copied from an older exemplar..
  • Written in hebrew on parchment.
  • Kept at Karaite community, Cairo.
  • Contains Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel.
A page of the Cairo Codex: pointed Hebrew in columns with marginal notes
The Cairo Codex of the Prophets, the opening of Joshua: public domain

Sources (2)

  1. Codex Cairensis — facsimile of the Cairo Codex of the Prophets · accessed 2026-08-06Public-domain facsimile.
  2. Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (Fortress Press, 2012) · accessed 2026-08-06The standard handbook of Hebrew Bible textual criticism.

What it is

It carries the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve), with full Masoretic pointing.

Its colophon says it was written in Tiberias in AD 895 by Moses ben Asher, of the great family of Masoretic scribes. If that is right, it is the oldest dated Hebrew Bible manuscript there is.

That "if" is real. Some specialists read the colophon as copied from an older exemplar and place the manuscript itself in the tenth or eleventh century, and the vocalisation has been read as belonging to a different scribal tradition than Ben Asher's. MannaFest reports the claim and the doubt together rather than choosing.

It belonged to the Karaite community in Cairo.

Manuscript details
Date
Colophon: AD 895. Contested — a number of scholars place the surviving manuscript in the tenth or eleventh century and read the colophon as copied from an older exemplar.
Language
Hebrew
Script
Square Hebrew with Tiberian vowel points and accents
Material
Parchment
Held at
Karaite community, Cairo
Found at
Written at Tiberias according to its colophon; long held by the Cairo Karaite community
Contains
Joshua · Judges · 1–2 Samuel · 1–2 Kings · Isaiah · Jeremiah · Ezekiel · The Twelve
Why it matters
It is the closest thing the Hebrew Bible has to a signed and dated masterwork from the family of scribes who fixed the text — and a working example of why a date written inside a book is evidence to be weighed, not a fact to be repeated.

The passages the manuscripts argue over

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 →