Aloha be(t)et lamed resh
We have two-three scriptural reasons to honor the Niqqud, esp., that of the Massoretes, unfortunately we cannot quite honor the Niqqud of the Massoretes, which was/is far more diverse than the testimony and application of only One Massorete, which is what we find today in the so called (yet somewhat misleading) Masoretic text;
Collectively the Masorettes were a rare treasure trove of those who retained undisputed viable knowledge of the ancient written Hebrew, and were the go to source in their dispensation when it came to potential application and meaning, which (due to the Assyrian/Babylonian Captivity and assimilation into foreign cultures) had become marginalized and had drawn close to the brink of extinction;
In Yeshayahu 9 we discover that the Masorah will be placed upon the Shoulder [the place where Prophecy is borne] of the Child/Son that is given to us, this passage/prophecy alone authorizes the (actual) Masoretic punctuation as an Amendment to the Torah which at the time had no punctuation in the text (which included word spacing), for previously it was the Oral Reading of the Torah that alone preserved the sacred knowledge of an appropriate Reading;
The people were discontent with the various alternate yet viable Readings of the Masorete, and managed to eliminate the input of all but two Masorete (I do not recall their names at the moment), then they eventually chose to run with the testimony and application of the one Masorete, and that is what made it’s way down through unto the Celtic translations of Wycliffe, Tyndall, the KJV and those who follow suite with their overall Reading of the sacred texts;
The fixed Niqqud basically preserves (what many agreed upon at the time to be) the proper Oral Reading of the texts, though not everyone was entirely in agreement, notwithstanding the fixed punctuation preserved a great portion of the historical account of Ishrael, seeing how the Torah can be Read with other viable and intelligent information being Punctuated/Read/Extracted from it, which could easily overshadow the entire historical account of Ishrael;
That is how important the Oral Law was, and how important the Masoretic punctuation has become, without it, much of the historical account which we have today would literally be Lost In Translation, and ironically we still have many things that are yet Lost due to a Fixed Punctuation as well;
Yeshuah defends the Niqqud when he says, not one Yowd [Hand/Manual] nor one Tittle [Diacritic Mark] will be made obsolete until everything has been fulfilled, yet he cautions us to have our Righteousness to exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes [which Punctuate] and the Pharisee [which Read].
Just as the Oral Law was used to teach the early Ishrael community how to Read the Written, the Masoretic Punctuation also teaches us today how meanings can be variously applied and ascribed.
The prophecy of Yeshayahu concerning Immanuel/Manuel is in chapter 8, where the prophet is instructed with a Strong Hand/Manual, and tells us to Bind the Torah and Seal the Testimony of Immanuel’s Disciples, and whosoever does not Speak according to the Torah and the Testimony of his Disciples it is because there is no Light in them, which mind you establishes what our doctrine is, then on to chapter 9 and the Masorah being upon his Shoulder;
Both chapters relate a string of related things that happen to be Associated with one another, the Torah [OT] & NT, a Strong Manual and the Masorah, this is no accident nor a coincidence, and neither am I mistaken to take stock in what is evidently done for a Divine reason and with a Deliberate intent.
Have you ever seen the t.v show My fat Greek wedding? Have you ever lived in a community where there is a notable presence of Portuguese people? If your answer to this question is yes, then you know that they nationality wise are one in the same people, aka the children of Aphrîyem Yowseph’s second born, yet Ishrael’s Firstborn.
Cause & Effect, Yeshuah strictly instructed his Disciples to go unto none other than the Lost Sheep of The House of Ishrael, in Ezekiel 37 Aphrîyem and his affiliates [the northern kingdom, tribes and converts) are reckoned as The House of Ishrael, and Yehudah and his affiliates [the southern kingdom] are reckoned as The Children of Ishrael, ergo the New Testament was propagated in the Latin Greek tongue, and the northern tribes became referred to as the Lost Tribes of Ishrael.
en.wikipedia.org
As you know, some volumes are downright voluminous!
