הכותב צריך לעשות שיעור בפתיחה של (במדבר י׳:ל״ה) ויהי בנסוע הארון מלמעלה ומלמטה שהוא ספר בפני עצמו וי"א שמקומו בנסיעת דגלים: A scribe must provide a distinguishing mark1The traditional mark is an inverted nun. for the section2So GRA. V reads ‘a prescribed space at the opening’. beginning And it came to pass when the ark set forward,3Num. 10, 35. The section consists of the two verses, ibid. 35f. both at its beginning and at its end, because it is a book on its own. Others maintain that its proper place is in the section of the setting forward of the standards.4Num. 2.
(הכותב צריך לעשות שיעור בפתיחה של ויהי העם כמתאוננים מלמעלה ומלמטה שהוא ספר בפני עצמו וי"א שמקומו בנסיעת דגלים): 5This Rule is partly a repetition of the preceding, since the end of the section, ibid. X, 35f, is followed by the beginning of And the people were as murmurers (ibid. XI, 1); and partly incorrect since no mark is inserted at the end of the latter section. The entire Rule is to be deleted according to GRA. The scribe must leave a prescribed space at the opening of the section which begins And the people were as murmurers;6ibid. XI, 1. [and not only] at its beginning [but also] at its end, because it is a book on its own. Others hold that its proper place is in the section of the setting forward of the standards.
עשר נקודות בתורה (בראשית ט״ז:ה׳) ישפוט ה׳ ביני וביניך יו"ד שביניך נקוד (שם יח) ויאמרו אליו אי"ו נקוד (שם יט) ולא ידע בשכבה ובקומה וי"ו נקוד שבקומה (שם לג) ויפול על צוארו וישקהו כולו נקוד (שם לז) וילכו אחיו לרעות את צאן אביהם את נקוד (במדבר ג׳:ל״ט) אשר פקד משה ואהרן אהרן נקוד (שם ט) או בדרך רחוקה ה"י נקוד (שם כא) ונשים עד נפח אשר רי"ש נקוד (שם כט) ועשרון עשרון שבחג בי"ט הראשון וי"ו שבעשרון השני נקוד (דברים כ״ט:כ״ח) הנסתרות [לה׳ אלהינו] והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם עיין שבעד נקוד: Ten [letters or groups of letters] in the Torah are marked by dots:7The dots are placed above the letters. Cf. above, ARN XXXIV, p. 165 where the Rabbinical explanations are given. In the Lord judge between me and thee8Gen. 16, 5. there is a dot on the beth9So GRA. V and H ‘the yod’. of ubeneka (and between thee). In and they said unto him,10ibid. XVIII, 9. there are dots on alef-yod-waw of ’elaw (unto him). In and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose,11ibid. XIX, 33. the [second] waw in ubekumah (nor when she arose) is marked with a dot. In and kissed him,12ibid. XXXIII, 4. the entire word wayyishshaḳehu is marked by dots. In and his brethren went to feed their father’s flock,13ibid. XXXVII, 12. the letters of ’eth (the mark of the defined accusative) are dotted. In whom Moses and Aaron numbered14Num. 3, 39. the word Aaron is marked with dots. In or be in a journey afar off,15ibid. IX, 10. the he in reḥoḳah (afar off) has a dot. In and we have laid waste even unto Nopha, which16ibid. XXI, 30. the resh in ’asher (which) has a dot. In and a several tenth part,17ibid. XXIX, 15. in the section dealing with the first day of the festival of Tabernacles, the second waw in we’issaron (and a tenth part) has a dot. In the secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever,18Deut. 29, 28. [H more correctly, ‘unto us and to our children and the ‘ayin in עד’. Cf. Sanh. 43b (Sonc. ed., p. 285, n. 4) and ARN above, p. 166.] the ‘ayin in ‘ad (for) has a dot.
א"ר שמעון בן לקיש שלשה ספרים נמצאו בעזרה ספר מעונה ספר זאטוטי ספר היא באחד מצאו כתוב מעון ובשנים כתוב מעונה אלהי קדם (שם לג) וקיימו שנים ובטלו אחד באחד מצאו כתוב וישלח אל זאטוטי בני ישראל ובשנים מצאו כתוב וישלח את נערי בני ישראל (שמות כ״ד:ה׳) וקיימו שנים ובטלו א׳ באחד כתוב אחד עשר הוא ובשנים מצאו כתוב אחד עשר היא וקיימו שנים ובטלו אחד: R. Simeon b. Laḳish said: Three scrolls of the Torah were found in the Temple court:19Presumably when the text of Scripture was about to be fixed. the Ma‘on20So GRA. V has מענה. This and the following two names were derived from the peculiar word which distinguished each scroll. scroll, the Za’aṭuṭë scroll, and the Hu’ scroll. In one of these they found the expression of ma‘on,21Meaning ‘dwelling place’, the noun being in the masculine form. and in the other two it was written, The eternal God is me‘onah22Deut. 33, 27, the same noun in the feminine. (a dwelling place), so they adopted the reading of the two scrolls and discarded that of the one scroll. In another of the scrolls they found it written, And he sent the za‘aṭuṭë (nobles) of the children of Israel,23Ex. 24, 5. and in the other two they found written And he sent na‘arë (the young men of) the children of Israel, so they retained the reading of the two and abandoned that of the one. In one of the scrolls hu’24The third person sing. masc. which is used in the Pentateuch for hi’, third person fem. sing. pronoun. was written eleven times, but in the other two hi’25The correct feminine form, being exceptions to the usual written form. A list of these is given in ARN XXXIV, above p. 167. was written eleven times, so they adopted the reading of the two and discarded that of the one.
שלשה לא כותבים בלמ"ד אל"ף וקוראים בלמ"ד וי"ו ואלו הן אשר לא כרעים ממעל לרגליו (ויקרא י״א:כ״א) אשר לא חומה (שם כה) אשר לא (יגיד) [יעדה] (שמות כא): Three expressions of lo’ are written lamed-alef26Meaning ‘not’. but read as lamed-waw.27Which means ‘to him, has’. They are: ’asher lo’28לא, lit. ‘which not’ but read לו ‘which has’. jointed legs above their feet;29Lev. 11, 21. ’asher lo’ ḥomah;30ibid. XXV, 30, lamed-alef, meaning ‘which has no wall’ but read as lamed-waw ‘which has a wall’. E.V. in a walled city. and ’asher lo’ ye‘adah.31Ex. 21, 8. The written form with lamed-alef means ‘who hath not espoused her’, but the reading with lamed-waw means, as E.V., who hath espoused her to himself.
ואלו הן של נביאים ושל כתובים תרבו חושי אמר (לו) הרבית צרתם יקטלני אחריש כצפור מרעהו זרובבל יצרו דעו יאסף שם ודברו: The following [occurrences of lamed-alef (not)] which have to be read as lamed-waw (to, by, has) are found in the Prophets and Hagiographa: multiply;32The introductory word of 1 Sam. 2, 3 in which occurs the phrase and by Him are actions weighed according to the ḳerë, but the kethib reads ‘and actions are not weighed’. Hushai;33i.e. 2 Sam. 16, 18, where the ḳerë is his will I be and the kethib ‘I will not be’. said;34i.e. 2 Kings 8, 10. Here the ḳerë is say unto him, thou shalt surely recover, and the kethib ‘say, thou shalt not surely recover’. thou hast multiplied;35i.e. Isa. 9, 2.The ḳerë is Thou hast increased their joy, and the kethib ‘Thou hast not increased joy’. their affliction;36i.e. Isa. 63, 9. The ḳerë is In all their affliction He was afflicted (lit. there was affliction to Him) and the kethib ‘in all their affliction He was not an adversary’. He slay me;37i.e. Job 13, 15. The ḳerë is yet will I trust Him, the kethib ‘I have nothing to hope for’. I keep silence;38i.e. Job 41, 4. The ḳerë is would I keep silence (to him), the kethib ‘I would not keep silence’. as the (wandering) sparrow;39i.e. Prov. 26, 2. The ḳerë is shall come home (to him), the kethib ‘shall not come home’. his friends;40i.e. Prov. 19, 7. The ḳerë is they turn against him, the kethib ‘they do not turn’. Zerubbabel;41i.e. Ezra 4, 2, The ḳerë is we do sacrifice unto Him, the kethib ‘we do not sacrifice’. were fashioned;42i.e. Ps. 139, 16. The ḳerë is ‘and for it there was one among them’, the kethib when as yet there was none of them. In this instance E.V. follows the kethib. know ye;43i.e. Ps. 100, 3. The ḳerë is we are His, the kethib ‘and not we (have made) ourselves’. be gathered;44i.e. Isa. 49, 5. The ḳerë is be gathered unto Him, the kethib ‘be not gathered’. name,45i.e. 1 Chron. 11, 20. The ḳerë is and had a name among the three, the kethib ‘and not a name among the three’. [this last also] in the corresponding passage.46viz. in 2 Sam. 23, 18. This reading is suggested by N.Y. to replace that of V ‘and his word’ which is meaningless. In this verse, however, lamed-waw is both written and read. [More probably ודבר in V is a misreading of daleth signifying ‘four’ which should be attached to the beginning of the next Rule.] [38a]
ענאל יניאל ובגרעון אלישמע השוטר: 47[V is unintelligible and the reading of H has been adopted.] Four [occurrences of the name] Jeuel are to be read Jeiel; viz. and in Gibeon,48i.e. in 1 Chron. 9, 35. the Ashterathite,49ibid. XI, 44. the scribe,502 Chron. 26, 11. [and of the sons of] Elizaphon.51ibid. XXIX, 13.
אלו קוראין ולא כותבין בני. פרת. איש. בן. בניו. צבאות. באים. (לא) [לה]. אלי. אלי: The following words are to be read but are not written [in the text]: the children of;52In Judg. 20, 13. Euphrates;53In 2 Sam. 8, 3. man;54In 2 Sam. 16, 23. as;55ibid. XVIII, 20. V incorrectly בן for כן. his sons;562 Kings 19, 37. of hosts;57ibid. 31. come;58In Jer. 31, 38 (some edd. 37). thereof;59In Jer. 50, 29. V incorrectly lo’ for lah. unto me;60In Ruth 3, 5. to me.61ibid. 17.
וחילוף כתובים ולא קוראים אמנון. באשר. במקום. גואל. ידרך. חמש: [With the following] it is the reverse;62Of those mentioned in the preceding Rule. The former are to be read but are not written; the latter are written but are not to be read. they are written [in the text] but are not to be read: Amnon;63In 2 Sam. 13, 33 the word ’im is written but not to be read. as he shall say;64In Jer. 39, 12 where similarly, ’im is written but not read. V incorrectly indicates the verse with ba’asher for ka’asher. in (what) place;65In 2 Sam. 15, 21 the word אם is written but not read. kinsman;66In Ruth 3, 12, the word ’im is written but not read. let … bend;67In Jer. 51, 3 the verb is repeated in the text. five.68In Ezek. 48, 16 the south side … five hundred the number five is written twice but read only once. [H adds two further instances: נא in 2 Kings 5, 18 and ’eth in Jer. 38, 16.]