Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Joseph I. Lauer" <josephlauer AT hotmail.com>]

    I continue to be sorry to report that I am unable to answer Yigal
Levin's even more-refined questions regarding the Ta'am 'Elyon and Ta'am
Tahton traditions [< 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)?> and < 2. What is the source of the alternative tradition for
Ta`am `Elyon, that ends verse 2 (`avadim) with a soph pasuq?>].
    I will stir the pot a bit, though, by adding some more materials for
investigation.
    Volume 20 of the Encyclopedia Talmudit [Hebrew] devotes more than a
column under the Te'amim (Ta'amei ha-Mikra) heading to discuss the different
traditions and halachik decisions regarding the Torah readings of the Ten
Commandments in Exodus and Deuteronomy.  See pp. 606-07 for the discussion,
with footnotes and cross-references; see also 20 ET at 694, 703, 707 n. 167.
It is possible that one or more of these sources will lead to the answers
being sought.
    It may be of interest to compare R. Mordechai Breuer's reconstructed
Keter Aram Soba renditions of the Exodus and Deuteronomy Ten Commandments
with the few and minor differences of the Leningrad Codex as shown in the
charts on page 310 (Exodus) and page 312 (Deuteronomy) of the Mossad ha-Rav
Kook's Torah Nevi'im u'Kesuvim (1989).  It should be noted that R. Breuer
numbers the first two verses of each as one and thus has different verse
numbers for the commandments (Exodus 20:2-13 and Deut. 5:6-17  v. the
"traditional" Exodus 20:2-14 and Deut. 5:6-18).
    I understand that there are two other editions of the Keter now
published or in the process of completion but do not have details regarding
them except that one is by R. Breuer and the other by R. Cohen.
Unfortunately, I do not have access to R. Breuer's newer Keter or to the
printed or CD versions of R. Cohen's Keter.
    Finally, in addition to the separate sections for the Ta'am 'Elyon and
Ta'am Tahton on pages 406 and 408, 415, 968 and 970, and 979 of the
ArtScroll Chumash (Stone Edition), the same can be seen in the ArtScroll
Tanach (Stone Edition) for Exodus 20:2-14 at pp. 182 and 184 (Ta'am Tahton)
and p. 242 (Ta'am 'Elyon), and for Deuteronomy 5:6-18 at p. 440 (Ta'am
Tahton) and p. 514 (Ta'am Elyon).
    Joe Lauer

    Joseph I. Lauer
    Brooklyn, New York