One should therefore keep in mind that the vowels as we have them
represent a very late pronunciation of Hebrew, but, unlike Karl would
have it, represent an authentic reading tradition. That is, just
because the scribes wrote these vowels at some point in time,
doesn't mean they made them up.
.... In other words, the notes and
vowels that they added were not necessarily any less inspired than
the written text that they passed on. People's point of view on what
is inspired may differ, and this list is not the place to discuss what is
or is not inspired, so Karl's viewpoint that "while the original
consonantal text was inspired by God, the preserved pronunciation is
not" is just as legitimate as saying it was all inspired or all not
inspired. But if the question of an authentic reading tradition comes
up, then there is no problem explaining the different vocalic systems
for vowels as different points in the development of the tradition.
Yitzhak Sapir
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