Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

> From: Moshe Shulman
> Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 7:15 AM
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] prosthetic aleph in Ps 22:17?
> 
> The problem with this theory is that the
> manuscripts are Biblical texts. The addition of
> letters for pronunciation purposes does not apply
> there. In fact we do not find it anywhere else in
> this text while in the sectarian texts it is found all the time.

[Steve Miller] Moshe, could you elaborate more? You are saying there is no
such thing as a prothetic aleph, correct? Then how do you explain the extra
aleph in, say, Isa 19:6 1st word.
> 
> I am not sure that you have looked at the
> original of these texts, but if you did you would
> see that the writer (I hate to use the word
> scribe because that seems to imply some 'skill'
> at writing) has very poor handwriting. IF you
> have ever needed to correct papers in Hebrew, you
> know that telling the difference between a vov
> and a yud is sometimes quite difficult.

[Steve Miller] When I went to Hebrew school and Baltimore Hebrew College, we
only learned to write script. So there was no problem telling any letters
apart.

I have studied a copy of the Nahal Hever (karu) text myself, but I have
never seen the 4QPs(f) fragment (kof resh). From what I know every expert
agrees that the word in Nahal Hever says karu, not kari.
There are many yods and vavs in the Nahal Hever fragment. Someone on this
list had pointed out ~ 2 yrs ago that some of the yods there are as long as
the vav supposedly at the end of karu. From what I saw, the yods that have
long necks are only the ones that immediately follow a tav at the end of a
word. The tav extends its foot forward, and the yod horizontally overlaps
the foot of the tav, ending significantly above the tav's foot. This makes
it clear that the yod is a yod, because it clearly does not reach the
bottom. The other yod's are all short. The vav at the end of karu is at
least as long as the immediately preceding resh. I think the bottom line is
that back then they had a little different rules in writing yod's then we do
today. 

This is hard to explain without looking at the picture. I have an unenhanced
electronic copy embedded in a pdf file, if anyone would like me to send it
to them. I don't think B-hebrew supports attachments.

Sincerely,
-Steve Miller
Detroit
www.voiceInWilderness.info
They shall come, and they shall declare
to a people to be born,
reveal His righteousness.
This deed which the Lord has done
they'll retell to everyone
that He may all peoples bless. (Psalm 22:31)