Leningrad Codex in the context of "Masoretic Text"

The Book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, Arithmoi, lit. 'numbers' Biblical Hebrew: בְּמִדְבַּר, Bəmīḏbar, lit. 'In [the] desert'; Latin: Liber Numeri) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final form is possibly due to a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a Yahwistic source made sometime in the early Persian period (5th century BC). The name of the book comes from the two censuses taken of the Israelites.

Numbers is one of the better-preserved books of the Pentateuch. Fragments of the Ketef Hinnom scrolls containing verses from Numbers have been dated as far back as the late seventh or early sixth century BC. These verses are the earliest known artifacts to be found in the Hebrew Bible text.

The Star of David (Hebrew: מָגֵן דָּוִד, romanized: Māḡēn Dāvīḏ, [maˈɡen daˈvid] , lit. 'Shield of David') is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and the Jewish people's ethnic religion, Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.

A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decorative and mystical purposes by Kabbalistic Jews and Muslims. The hexagram appears occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity as a decorative motif, such as a stone bearing a hexagram from the arch of the 3rd–4th century Khirbet Shura synagogue. A hexagram found in a religious context can be seen in the Leningrad Codex, a manuscript of the Hebrew Bible from 11th-century Cairo.

Ecclesiastes (/ɪˌkliːziˈæstiːz/ ih-KLEE-zee-ASS-teez) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word קֹהֶלֶת (Kohelet, Koheleth, Qoheleth or Qohelet). An unnamed author introduces "The words of Kohelet, son of David, king in Jerusalem" (1:1) and does not use his own voice again until the final verses (12:9–14), where he gives his own thoughts and summarises the statements of Kohelet; the main body of the text is ascribed to Kohelet.

Kohelet proclaims (1:2) "Vanity of vanities! All is futile!" The Hebrew word hevel, 'vapor' or 'breath', can figuratively mean 'insubstantial', 'vain', 'futile', or 'meaningless'. In some versions, vanity is translated as 'meaningless' to avoid the confusion with the other definition of vanity. Given this, the next verse presents the basic existential question with which the rest of the book is concerned: "What profit can we show for all our toil, toiling under the sun?" This expresses that the lives of both wise and foolish people all end in death. In light of this perceived meaninglessness, he suggests that human beings should enjoy the simple pleasures of daily life, such as eating, drinking, and taking enjoyment in one's work, which are gifts from the hand of God. The book concludes with the injunction to "Fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the duty of all of mankind. Since every deed will God bring to judgment, for every hidden act, whether good or evil."

The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, abbreviated as BHS or rarely BH, is an edition of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible as preserved in the Leningrad Codex, and supplemented by Masoretic and text-critical notes. It is the fourth edition in the Biblia Hebraica series started by Rudolf Kittel and is published by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft (German Bible Society) in Stuttgart.

A Hebrew Bible manuscript is a handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) made on papyrus, parchment, or paper, and written in the Hebrew language (some of the biblical text and notations may be in Aramaic). The oldest manuscripts were written in a form of scroll, the medieval manuscripts usually were written in a form of codex. The late manuscripts written after the 9th century use the Masoretic Text. The important manuscripts are associated with Aaron ben Asher (especially Leningrad/Petrograd Codex).

The earliest sources (whether oral or written) of the Hebrew Bible disappeared over time because of the fragility of media, wars (especially the destruction of the First and Second Temple) and other intentional destructions. As a result, the lapse of time between the original manuscripts and their surviving copies is much longer than in the case of the New Testament manuscripts.

The Book of Zephaniah /ˌzɛfəˈnaɪ.ə/ (Hebrew: צְפַנְיָה, Ṣəfanyā; sometimes Latinized as Sophonias) is the ninth of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament and Tanakh, preceded in all traditions by the Book of Habakkuk and followed by the Book of Haggai. The book has three chapters. Zephaniah is a male given name which is usually interpreted to mean "Yahweh has hidden/protected", or "Yahweh hides". The church father Jerome of Stridon interpreted Zephaniah's name to mean "the watchman of the Lord". The original text of the prophecy was written in Biblical Hebrew.

Scholars propose various dates of composition; some scholars argue that the book was probably composed during the reign of Josiah (late-seventh century BCE), while others hold that an original core of oracles was expanded and edited in exilic or later times.