BEN 'ASÉR. - A family of Masoretes from Tiberias, perhaps belonging to the sect of the Karaites (v.), to whom are owed the present vocalic and accentual punctuation of the Hebrew biblical text, and of whom five successive generations flourishing between about 800 and 930 are known. The most celebrated are the last two descendants, called Môšeh (Moses) b. 'A. and 'Abâron (Aaron) ben Môšeh b. 'A., to whom are attributed respectively the codex of the Prophets preserved in Cairo (C), written in 895, and the complete one kept in the library of the Sephardim at Aleppo (Syria).
To the latter, the most celebrated, are ascribed various monographs on the Tiberian masorah (v.), collected under the title Diqdiqê hat-Tê'âmîn (“Details concerning the accents”), many of which are in rhymed prose. The biblical text transmitted by B. 'A. subsequently became, albeit with minimal modifications, the standard codex of the Bible which, especially through the work of Mosè Maimonide (d. 1204), prevailed over the opposing school of Ben Naftâli (v.). To the school of B. 'A. belong the codices: British Museum Or. 4445, and L (Leningrad Library) B 19°, both from the first half of the 10th century.