Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Cynthia Edenburg <cynthia AT oumail.openu.ac.il>]

To supplement Jonathan's comments:
You can find a summary of the discussion of superlinear dots in Kelly,
Mynatt, Crawford, *The Masorah of the BHS* 1998, pp 32-34. There is also a
brief discussion in Tov's book on textual criticism, but I have the Hebrew
version, so can't give the precise reference.
It appears that the superlinear dots are *pre-massoretic*, since they are
inscribed in Torah scrolls even though all massoretic marks (nikud and
ta'amim) are excluded. Also the fact that they are mentioned in early
midrashim seems to indicate that they are pre-massoretic. Superlinear dots
are used in the Qumran scrolls of biblical to indicate scribal errors -- it
seems that scribal practice did not allow erasing when copying scripture (in
contrast to profane lit.), and the dots clue the reader that the word or
letters below are incorrect. In some of the cases in which MT records
superlinear dots, other versions preserve variant readings, so it is not
unlikely that the dots originated as signals of suspect textual readings.
Later on, this scribal practice seems to have been forgotten, but he dots
preserved giving way to midrashic interpretation of the purpose of the dots.

Cynthia Edenburg

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