What is massoretic?

Massoretic refers to the Jewish scholars, known as Masoretes, who worked between the 7th and 10th centuries CE to preserve and rigidly maintain the accuracy and consistency of the Hebrew Bible. They were responsible for developing a system of vocalization, punctuation, accentuation, and division of words and verses in the text, which is known as the Masorah. They also counted and recorded the number of each word, and the middle word and letter of each book, and created lists of anomalous spellings and readings in the text. The Massoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible, which is considered the most authentically preserved form of the Hebrew Bible, and is the basis of most modern translations of the Old Testament. The MT has been widely studied by scholars for its linguistic and textual features, and is an important source for understanding the Jewish religion, literature and history.