Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Great, so the ArtScroll (Stone), also uses what I'm assuming is the
Leningrad Ta`am `Elyon, that combines the first and second commandments into
one long "verse", with explaining that this is because the people actually
heard these two from the voice of God, while only Moses heard the rest. I've
seen this explanation elsewhere.
So now I'll rephrase my questions:

1. How old is this tradition (not the midrash that they only heard the first
two, but the tradition of dividing up the verses accordingly)?

2. What is the source of the alternative tradition for Ta`am `Elyon, that
ends verse 2 (`avadim) with a soph pasuq?

Yigal

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph I. Lauer" <josephlauer AT hotmail.com>

>     Shavua Tov, Yigal!
>     You asked: <"By the way, in the ArtScroll (Stone), which division do
> they use in the Ta`am `Elyon - are commandments 1 and 2 combined or
> separate? Is there any note on this?">
>     As I noted, page 415 of the ArtScroll Chumash (Stone Edition) has the
> Ta'am 'Elyon for Exodus 20:2-14.  The First Commandment (v. 2) and the
> Second Commandment (vv. 3-6) are combined (that is, there are no colons or
> other contemporary punctuation marks dividing the verses).  As in other
> printings of the Ta'am 'Elyon, the last word of the First Commandment, v.
2
> ('Avadim), has a Revi'i.  In the Second Commandment, the last word of v. 3
> (Panai with a Patach at the end of the word, not a Kamatz as in the Ta'am
> Tahton) has a Revi'i, as does the last word of v. 4 (LaAretz).  The last
> word of v. 5 (L'son'oi [I'm trying to indicate a Kamatz at the end of the
> word!]) is marked with an Esnahta.  The Second Commandment ends (v. 6) in
> both versions with a Sof Pasuk.
>     I'm sorry to say that I did not see a note on this issue in the
> ArtScroll Chumash although pages 406-07 has a discussion of what the
people
> heard and from whom.
>     I should have noted that the ArtScroll Chumash has the Ta'am Elyon for
> the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:6-18 on page 979, while the Ta'am
> Tahton version is on pages 968 and 970.
>     Joe Lauer
>
>     Joseph I. Lauer
>     Brooklyn, New York
>
>