About TiberianHebrew.com

The vocalization (vowel) signs found in most modern Hebrew Bibles ultimately go back to a group of Hebrew scholars from the early Islamic period who were based in the city of Tiberias on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This group has come to be known as the 'Tiberian Masoretes'. Despite the fact that they were the tradents of the most prestigious Biblical Hebrew reading tradition of the Middle Ages, their reading tradition eventually faded out of use. TiberianHebrew.com exists to provide a pronunciation guide for those desiring to hear, understand, and use the Tiberian Hebrew reading tradition themselves based on the medieval sources and the most recent advances in modern scholarship.

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The Tiberian tradition, however, was not the only pronunciation tradition of Biblical Hebrew that existed in antiquity or in the medieval period. For that reason, we also make a point on TiberianHebrew.com to educate the user regarding some of the other reading traditions attested throughout history. In the ancient period, these include the Hebrew tradition reflected in the Greek transcriptions of Origen's Secunda and the Hebrew tradition reflected in the Latin transcriptions of Jerome. In the medieval period, these include the Babylonian, Palestinian, and Samaritan reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew.

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This site is dedicated to Geoffrey Khan (Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge), who has advanced the field of Tiberian Hebrew studies significantly over the past few decades. Much of the content here is either based on or inspired by his work and research.*

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*Views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not imply any endorsement on the part of Prof. Khan unless explicitly cited or quoted.