Masoretica — Genesis 1:1 in the Penn CAJS Halper 31 (Proverbs 30

MasoreticaBiblical Manuscript Explorer

CompareExod. 31:2 1 Sam. 1:5 Num. 36:13 Job 14:9 Isa. 51:3 Nah. 1:1 Ps. 42:2 Ps. 149:9 Zeph. 3:14 Zech. 1:1 Song 7:1

ManuscriptPenn CAJS Halper 31 (Proverbs 30–31 Genizah leaf with Masora parva)

Contents

One parchment leaf photographed recto and verso, preserving Proverbs 30:27–31:9. Each side has one biblical column of nine lines, with the new chapter beginning on the verso; a mid-line space justifies the left rule. The text is written in an Oriental square Hebrew hand with Tiberian vowels and cantillation. Short Masora parva notes stand in the margins to flag and cross-check unusual forms, but there is no Masora magna in the upper or lower margins. The leaf is stained and creased, with extensive tears, holes, and losses at the exterior edges and center that remove letters and words from several lines

More info

Mapped biblical scope16 mapped verse locations · 1 mapped span in canonical order

Proverbs 30:27–31:9

Vocalization: The Proverbs text is pointed with Tiberian vowel signs and cantillation accents on both sides. The signs are especially clear on the verso and are locally lost where tears, holes, abrasion, or stains remove the writing surface.
Layout: The intended layout is one biblical column of nine written lines on each side. A deliberate space within a line helps justify the left rule; the Proverbs 30–31 chapter transition falls between the recto and verso.
Masorah parva / magna: Separate visual checks of both complete master photographs and the OPenn catalogue confirm Masora parva as short marginal notes beside the biblical column. These notes flag and cross-reference unusual forms so that the copied text can be checked. No Masora magna is present in the surviving upper or lower margins.
Script: Proverbs is written in a formal Oriental square Hebrew book hand. “Oriental square” is the OPenn catalogue’s verified technical classification; in plain language, the large upright letters were carefully formed for clear reading.
Chapter transition: The recto preserves Proverbs 30:27–33. The verso begins Proverbs 31 with “The words of Lemuel, a king,” and continues through verse 9. Biblical lookup therefore crosses the physical turn of the single leaf, while previous and next navigation remains recto then verso.
Preservation: The parchment is stained, creased, and irregularly darkened. Large exterior-edge tears, a central hole, and several smaller punctures remove letters and words from multiple lines, with the heaviest loss on the recto’s left half and around the verso’s center and right edge. These are physical lacunae rather than omitted verses.
Date and origin: OPenn dates the copy broadly to the 11th or 12th century (1000–1199) and identifies only the broad region “Orient,” not a more precise copying place.
Provenance: The leaf came from the Cairo Genizah, passed through Amram and the Dropsie College Library, and is now held by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Library.
Physical extent: One parchment leaf survives, measuring about 16.8 × 17.8 cm. OPenn publishes two complete photographs, one for the recto and one for the verso.
Mapped images: Full-surface BiblIA/Kraken recognition covers both complete 4,252 × 3,910-pixel OPenn master scans and all 113 detected line regions. Both sides pass validation; nine exact Hebrew anchors map all 16 verses, with nine direct highlights (56.2%) in 15 full-scan rectangles. Because the damaged nine-line surfaces preserve short strings, anchors use exact matches unique within the independently catalogued recto or verso span.

Review sources: Catalogue or project record · University of Pennsylvania OPenn manuscript record, TEI description, master images, and Public Domain Mark · University of Pennsylvania Franklin catalogue identifier · Kennicott critical-edition manuscript key (no exact Halper 31 card found)

Date

11th or 12th century (?) (1000–1199 CE)

Origin

Copying place not identified; the catalogue gives the broad region “Orient”; from the Cairo Genizah through Amram and the Dropsie College Library to Penn’s CAJS collection

Rights

Public Domain Mark 1.0

Catalogue record ↗

AvailabilityGenesis 1:1 is not included.Next available verseProverbs 30:27

Passage unavailable

Genesis 1:1 is not included in Penn CAJS Halper 31 (Proverbs Genizah leaf with Masora parva).

This manuscript includes: One parchment leaf photographed recto and verso, preserving Proverbs 30:27–31:9. Each side has one biblical column of nine lines, with the new chapter beginning on the verso; a mid-line space justifies the left rule. The text is written in an Oriental square Hebrew hand with Tiberian vowels and cantillation. Short Masora parva notes stand in the margins to flag and cross-check unusual forms, but there is no Masora magna in the upper or lower margins. The leaf is stained and creased, with extensive tears, holes, and losses at the exterior edges and center that remove letters and words from several lines.

Next available verseProverbs 30:27

About Masoretica

Sources & method.

Manuscript images and metadata come from the holding institutions and digitisation projects listed below. Text and versification data come from UXLC, MAM, BIMA / Corpus Masoreticum, the Codex Sinaiticus Project, the DT-UCPH Samaritan Pentateuch, lxx-morph, and STEPBible. The viewer identifies the source used for each manuscript.

Page mapping and text recognition combine repository indexes, OCR, and transcriptions with kraken, Party, BiblIA, and other specialised HTR models. OpenAI Codex is used in developing the site and in running and reviewing this workflow.

Full source, credit, and licence links appear below.

Sources and licences

UXLC Leningrad index Leningrad scan Leningrad photography credit Aleppo page index Aleppo facsimile Codex Sassoon 1053 page index Sassoon scan Sassoon catalogue Rylands Samaritan scan Rylands Samaritan MS 2 scan Rylands Samaritan MS 4 scan Gaster Samaritan MS 1133 scan Gaster Trilingual Samaritan MS 814 scan Gaster Samaritan MS Add 1 scan Gaster Samaritan MS 1858 scan Bodley Or. 699 Samaritan scan Bodley Or. 23 Isaiah scan Kennicott 1 scan Kennicott 2 scan Kennicott 3 scan Kennicott 4 scan Kennicott 5 scan Kennicott 6 scan Kennicott 7 scan Kennicott 8 scan kraken OCR and HTR toolkit Party multilingual HTR model used for Alexandrinus BiblIA medieval Hebrew model Samaritan kraken model Greek minuscule kraken model Sinaiticus line-segmentation model Miqra according to the Masorah text BIMA / Corpus Masoreticum manuscript transcriptions · CC BY-SA 4.0 Samaritan Pentateuch reference text Alexandrinus facsimile Rahlfs 82 catalogue Rahlfs 82 digitization Vaticanus facsimile Sinaiticus edition Sinaiticus electronic transcription Septuagint reference text Greek–Hebrew verse-number crosswalk Keter Aram Tsova typeface

For scholarly use

How to cite.

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Preferred citation

Dershowitz, Idan. “Masoretica: Manuscript Explorer.” Accessed 16 August 2026. https://www.masoretica.org/.

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