User:Dovi/Miqra according to the Masorah/Information about this Edition/Chapter 2

[In this chapter, there is completed so far a draft translation of only a portion of the subsection 'Ḥatafim in Non-Gutteral Letters']

4.6 Ḥatafim in Non-Guttural Letters
Rabbi Breuer’s determination on this subject followed the method of the Minḥat Shai, and turned all the ḥatafim on non-guttural letters which are in the manuscripts into simple shvas.

9.1 The Practice of the Scribes versus the Practice of the Printed Editions
The practice of the scribes in the manuscripts: The form of writing was different in the books of EMeT (Psalms, Proverbs, Job) from the other 21 books of the Bible in the era of the Tiberian manuscripts. In the Twenty-One Books, the writing was continuous: when he did not have enough space left for the next word, the scribe continued to write in the next line. The lines were in narrow columns (three columns per page), and thus they were short—and so too the reader’s eye could easily span from the end of one line to the start of the next. This continuous writing was interrupted in the Twenty-One Books only for the sake of the division of sections (and in certain places for the special poems, such as the Song at the Sea, or the Song of Moses [Haazinu]).

The columns in the EMeT books are wider (two per page). And the writing in them is not completely continuous, because there is usually a space within most of the lines—so at first glance it seems as if each column is subdivided into a right inner column and a left inner column.

However, the design of the spaces in the books of EMeT is not really planned to be in the middle of each line (as it is in the special poems in the Twenty-One Books, such as the Song of the Moses or the Song of David) but is part of the scribe's continuous writing. If within the line begins a new thought worthy of a slight pause (such as the beginning of a verse or a distinct unit within the verse—the latter usually coming after the first-degree disjunctive accents "ascend and descend" and "resting")—then it is very possible that the scribe will leave a space. But there is no effort on the part of the scribe to adjust the position of the space so that it appears parallel to the spaces in the rows above it or below it. And so the spaces themselves become part of the scribe's continuous writing, who leaves spaces as he proceeds without aligning their position in advance.

There is often a tendency for the scribe to leave a space to end the verse (or unit within the verse) at the end of the line, and thus the next verse (or unit) will begin at the top of the next line. But even this only happens when continuous writing allows it without special effort. And many times this does not happen at all: there is no space in a prominent place worthy of a break within the line, or there is no effort at all to end the verse (or the unit) at the end of the line, and its writing continues at the beginning of the next line. And sometimes there is a space precisely in a place where there is no definite beginning of a new unit, nor does it come after a disjunctive accent of the first degree; and sometimes there is a space in the place that may be considered a new unit but contrary to the opinion of those who assigned the accents. [119]

It is therefore quite clear that this [assignment of spaces] is an optional custom, and it is the scribe who has decided to leave spaces in places that seemed appropriate to him at the time of writing.

EMeT books in print:  This form of writing EMeT books was used during the manuscripts era, in the Aleppo Codex and the other Tiberian manuscripts, and also in the manuscripts in Spain. The form of writing was not considered obligatory in all its details, but as a custom of scribes at the general level: at the stage of execution each scribe set down the spaces of his choice. However, the general picture changed in the age of printing, when almost all editions of EMeT books that were published, from the first to the most recent generation, completely neglected the scribal practice of designing the poetry of EMeT books. Instead, the verses were printed in the books of EMeT in a simple sequence — as in the other 21 books of the Bible. In "Minchat Shai" we find an explicit reason for the neglect of the scribal custom by the printers (end of the opening words to the book of Psalms):


 * It was said in Tractate Soferim that although the sages did not prescribe a format for the Song of David in Samuel and for Psalms, in any case an expert scribe would make a continuously layered sequence with the letters[120] at the beginning and end, as well as the entire Psalms and Job and Proverbs. And this was the practice of the ancients. And also Rabbi I. wrote in "HaShutafim" that because of this, they wrote Job together with Psalms and Proverbs, since it is a shared concern: they wrote them out as a kind of poetry, in short passages, and their own melody. And since this is not at all a matter of Strict Fulfillment of a Commandment, given that not all verses are comparable, and many times one of them intrudes into its neighbor and confuses the reading by someone who is reading them, and the work was strenuous for the typesetters - therefore I chose to forgo it, and not to make a distinction between these and the rest of the Scriptures. For everything goes according to one's sincere intention, and "the Merciful One desires the heart." Blessed be the Merciful One who supported me from the start to this point; may His support continue for the remainder.

The rationale for Minchat Shai's words is twofold: first of all, there is no real Strict Fulfillment in the scribal writing practices, because this method failed to shape the books of EMeT in a way that emphasizes the verse structure aesthetically and clearly for the benefit of the reader. And additionally: This effort (in vain!) is very difficult for typesetters. This description of the author of "Minchat Shai", who refrained from printing EMeT books with spaces, is generally true of most of the era of printing. Only in the last generation did this trend begin to change, when several important editions of the Bible were published, accurate according to the ancient manuscripts, in which the books of EMeT were given a distinctly poetic design in an attempt to restore it to its pristine splendor.