Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Dear "beautilitydesign.co.uk
thevalleychurch.org
greeekandhebrew.wordpress.com
@thevalleychurch",


Please remember to sign your posts with your full name.

Rashi, quoting several Talmudic-era midrashim, suggests that the dots on the
on the word "elav" ("to him"), referring to the three "men" (understood to
be angels)'s addressing Abraham, are meant to show that:
1. They really did know where Sarah was (being angels and all), but wished
to emphasize her modesty in not showing herself.
2. To teach us that one should always ask a husband of his wife and a wife
of her husband.
3. To show that they intended to send Sarah a "cup of blessing". 

Now obviously all of these explanations are after-the-fact. What is
interesting is that since the dots are known in rabbinic midrashim, they
must have been in the pre-Masoretic text. This still doesn't really answer
the question, but it tells us that they are NOT a part of the regular
masoretic vowel points and cantilation marks.

Yigal Levin



-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Simon Patterson
Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 11:29 AM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] Genesis 18:9 Pointing

Is anyone able to explain to me what's going on with the crazy accents on
the second word in Genesis 18:9?

I understand that it is one of ten cases of "Puncta Extraordinaria" in the
Torah. Can anyone tell me anything else?

-- 
beautilitydesign.co.uk
thevalleychurch.org
greeekandhebrew.wordpress.com
@thevalleychurch
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