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  • From: Susan Jeffers <susan AT read-the-bible.org>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] spaces or no spaces
  • Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 08:40:45 -0400

Greetings b-hebrew folk --

I teach an Introduction to Biblical Studies course, and I've been trying to find out what's the evidence for whether the earliest Hebrew Bible manuscripts were written with or without spaces in between the words. Can you help?

I've found several web pages that claim "no spaces" but they don't cite any evidence (e.g. ancient manuscripts).

I really don't care all that much what the actual answer is -- but I sure would like to know what the EVIDENCE is, one way or another. And the basis for the assertions one way or the other.

Here's what I've found so far, on both sides (spaces vs no spaces):

SPACES:

(1) My recollection of the Qumran Isaiah Scroll from when I saw it in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; I'm pretty sure it had spaces between the words.

(2) Wikipedia has this to say, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interword_separation:
"Interword separation is the set of symbol or spacing conventions used by the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Orthography>orthography of a script to separate words. According to Paul Saenger in Spaces between Words, the early <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Semitic_language>Semitic languages ­ which had no vowel signs ­ had interword separations, but languages with vowels (principally <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Greek_language>Greek and <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Latin>Latin) lost the separation, not regaining it until much later."
I've requested this book by Saenger through interlibrary loan...

(3) Another Dead Sea Scroll fragment I found on line that appears to have interword spaces is at
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/full-images/hosea-b.gif

My thinking is that the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest extant Hebrew manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, so if the DSS documents have spaces, that confirms the "spaces" side, as far as we know.

NO SPACES:

Here are a couple of web pages that claim there were no spaces between words:

(1) http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/bible/historical-construction/ot-errata/

"First, prior to the 6th century A.D., the written Tanach consisted primarily of consonants. To be able to actually translate the written text into understandable and meaningful words, one would have to receive special instruction by a teacher or rabbi. Knowledge of this correct interpretation or reading was passed down orally from teachers to students over the generations. Second, as if to further confuse matters, words were written without spaces in between. Thus knowledge of where one word ended and another began was, as with vowel sounds, dependent on the oral tradition."

(2) at http://home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/crc64.htm :

"Even though the scribes were very careful variations have crept into the text. One reason is that the original Torah scrolls were in the ancient Hebrew characters without spaces between the words and without final letters."

I'm sure this is a naive question, but I don't have any obvious way to find out the answer besides asking you-all.

Thanks!

Susan Jeffers

-----------------------------------------------
EMail: susan AT read-the-bible.org
Peace Church Bible Study Home Page: www.read-the-bible.org






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