Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

Bill:

Tell me about that.

Memorization also helps one get a feel for the language. 
I memorized the first four chapters of Proverbs, Isaiah 53 
starting with Isaiah 52:13, Psalms 1 and 23 and my latest 
is trying to memorize Genesis 1. Genesis 1 is a lot harder, 
as unlike the others, it is prose and prose is a lot harder 
to keep straight. (And for the curious, yes I stayed pretty 
close to the Masoretic points.) That helps internalize the 
language far better than just reading.

Yet, even in memorization, contextual clues are used to 
help keep all the details straight. It's easier to memorize 
patterns than individual items.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Rea" <bsr15 AT cantsl.it.canterbury.ac.nz>
> 
> Yitzhak wrote:-
> 
> >> It is almost impossible to remember each point,
> >> so it is pretty obvious that the Masoretes, too, relied on
> >> context to help remind them.
> >
> > This is just not true.  The Massoretes remembered each
> > point, and used a huge body of statistical information that
> > they also memorized regarding odd forms of each word to
> > remember each and every point.  For someone who makes
> > it their life occupation to remember the vocalization and
> > cantillation of each word in the Bible, it's very possible.
> 
> If anyone doubts what Yitzhak says they should attend a Bar Mitzvah at a
> nearby synagogue. At the one I attended the boy recited from memory, as is
> the custom, and when he faltered in his reciting his father and the Rabbi
> chanted a few words with him until he got going again. The boy did not
> stop and consider the context to determine which vowels to put between his
> consanants. What happens in synagogues in the chanting of the scriptures
> is part of an unbroken tradition of which the Masoretes were members.
> Those who come from religious traditions which place no, or little,
> emphasis on the memorization of scriptures rarely realize the human
> capacity to memorize large blocks of text.
> 
> 
> Bill Rea, IT Services, University of Canterbury \_
> E-Mail bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz               </   New
> Phone 64-3-364-2331, Fax  64-3-364-2332       /)  Zealand
> Unix Systems Administrator                   (/'

-- 
___________________________________________________
Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/