How We Got Our Bible: Where the Hebrew Vowels Came From

Look at a page of Hebrew and you will see letters with small dots and dashes above and below them. Those markings have their own history.
The Dead Sea Scrolls just had the letters. No dots, no dashes, none of that. Hebrew was written consonantally, and readers supplied the vowels from knowing the language.
So why did the marks appear? Because scribes became concerned that people were losing the ability to pronounce Hebrew. Everyday speech had moved away from Hebrew - mainly to Aramaic and Greek, with Arabic becoming important later. The pronunciation that had been carried in living speech was at risk, so it got written down.
Here is the part worth holding onto. This is a spelling convention, to preserve the vowels rather than leave them unwritten. It does not change anything in content.
So the vowel markings are not later additions to Scripture. They are a later recording of the traditional pronunciation and reading preserved by the Masoretes - a rescue operation, carried out by people who could see what was slipping away.
Scripture links:
- Nehemiah 8:8 - they read from the Law clearly, and gave the sense.
- Psalm 119:160 - the sum of your word is truth.
- 2 Timothy 3:16 - all Scripture is breathed out by God.
Preserving the reading, not editing the text.