Literally, tradition. Literary activity centering around the text of the Bible. This activity took place in Tiberias in Palestine during the 8th century, resulting in a standard Bible text.

The Massoretes, or scholars who devoted themselves to establishing the Masoretic text, divided the biblical books into chapters and verses which were lacking in the original text, and set down the correct pronunciation of biblical words which were often unclear because vowel and accent marks were unknown in early times. They compiled spelling lists and introduced a system of vowel and accent marks that enabled every Jew to read and study the Bible. The Masoretic activity was brought to a close at the beginning of the 10th century by the last of the Masorites, Aaron ben Asher.