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b-hebrew - RE: Hebrew vowel pointings in the MT

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  • From: Andrew Kulikovsky <anku AT CelsiusTech.com.au>
  • To: "'Lewis Reich'" <LBR AT sprynet.com>, Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: Hebrew vowel pointings in the MT
  • Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 16:36:41 +0930


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lewis Reich [mailto:LBR AT sprynet.com]
>
> I am sure that others will have contributions to add, but perhaps I
> can start by observing that without the vowel pointings, God's word
> would consist only of consonants. However, spoken Hebrew includes
> vowels as well as consonants.

true.

> Jewish Torah scrolls to this day include only the consonantal text;
> there are no vowels or punctuation marks, just as there are no vowels
> in the DSS. However, these texts were all read and understood by
> their readers as carrying implicit vowels with them.

But in the case of WaYeHiY ("and then there was") at the end of Gen 1:5, and
WiYHiY ("and let it be") in Gen 1:6, how would the reader determine between
these two options by just looking at the consonants?

Now, I'm sure context plays a part but I am also sure that there are many
instances where both these options would make good sense.

> > When were these pointings added to the text and exactly by
> who? On what basis did they decide which pointings to use?
>
> Just as there were different textual variants, there were doubtless
> different traditions about vowel pointing in some instances. The
> vowel pointing of the traditional Jewish text (the "Massoretic text")
> was standardized (along with the consonantal text and the
> accompanying musical chant) around a thousand years ago. The
> traditions (*masorah*) on which the work was based was considerably
> older, of course.

I guess my question is: since there were undoubtedly different pointing
traditions, which one did the Masoretes use and why did they select that
particular one?

cheers,
Andrew
--
Andrew S. Kulikovsky B.App.Sc(Hons) MACS
Software Engineer
Celsius
CelsiusTech
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Email : anku AT celsiustech.com.au

"The road to tyranny, we must never forget,
is the destruction of the truth."
-- President Bill Clinton, during a
speech at the University of
Connecticut, 1995.




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