B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Isaiah 29:2

וַהֲצִיקוֹתִי לַאֲרִיאֵל וְהָיְתָה תַאֲנִיָּה וַאֲנִיָּה וְהָיְתָה לִּי כַּאֲרִיאֵל

I can not translate the masoretic notes at the bottom of my scripture but I noticed that on the word וְהָיְתָה לִּי they indicate the preference for a 'Maquef'. Question: How does the nuance change? Or is it just for grammatical appearance to maintain a single word idea?

Chris watts

Hi Chris:

Those two words are already "connected" via the conjunctive dagesh (the dagesh in the lamed really shouldn't be there, but it is there to "connect" the two words).

I believe if you added a maqef it would necessarily change the accent on וְהָ֥יְתָה (you see the maqef changing things all the time, the best example is

בֵּן אָדָם versus בֶּן־אָדָם (the change is due to the accent being lost on "son" and the vowel changing accordingly

So I wonder if they decided NOT to put the maqef there and rather the conjunctive dagesh (in order to NOT change the previous word?????

Glenn

I just listened to Abraham Shmeulof reading of Is 29:2, and you can hear "ve - ha - ye - tal li" (I think without the conjunctive dagesh he would almost have to "break" in between the words when saying "ve - ha -ye - ta li" (i.e. "ta" NOT "tal")

Hi,

Where do you see this note?
Can you upload a picture here? Or maybe give a link so we can see it?

The Maqaf, in this case, would come if there was no cantillation mark on the word היתה.
But if we can see this note, maybe there is another point to that wondering.

Thanks Glen.

Ducky - as requested: It's a pity because I have so many of these notes that I would like to read but unfortunately it's all gobblydygookish. I find no references on the internet or in any of the many books that I have that completely ignore this part of BH. It's a mystery why all the Hebrew references and books in the world do not explain anything about these notes. At least, I have never found any.

H,

The note doesn't say that there should be Maqaf, but it just points to the fact that there are other books that write it with Maqaf.
So the reading is this:
כן ברוב ספרים - so it is in most books. (=this is how it is in most books) (meaning: without Maqaf).
כ"י - (initials for כתבי יד)=handscripts.
ד"ב, ד"ד, דט"ו --- the first letter ד is short for דפוס=print
the other letters that are stuck to it represent a number
so ד"ב is דפוס ב = Print 2 (or print B)
ד"ד is Print 4
ודט"ו - is ו=and ד=print טו=15 (and print 15)
they give reference to other printed bibles and cataloged them as 1, 2, 3, and so on.
(of course, using printed books as a source while having many hand-script that says the same (and otherwise from the prints) is a little bit strange. But I guess the point is to write every source that exists.

it continues with:
ס"א - other books (says) והיתה-לי.
וכן - and so.
ד"ג - print 3.
וד"יב - and print 12.

***************************
To find the meanings of print 1, 2, and so on, you should go to the beginning of this book or to its end, and there is probably an abbrivation section that link these codes to the print.

in that note Chris posted, with the maqef they left the accent on וְהָ֥יְתָה (not sure why I thought the accent would be removed)

Glenn

In the note, the word היתה is with a meteg (not with a Merkha).

The words היתה לי in this script are not connected with Maqaf - and with that, the word היתה gets a cantillation mark (the Merkha).

In this note, it says that this is the way of most books.

But, it then continues and says, that there are prints that write these words combined with Maqaf, and the first word היתה loses its cantillation mark (Merkha), and instead, it is marked with a Meteg.

ducky wrote: ↑Sun Aug 21, 2022 12:36 pm In the note, the word היתה is with a meteg (not with a Merkha).

Thanxs Ducky for the info - good eye catching it is meteg!

Glenn

Thank you Ducky (and Glen) for all this. I had not expected that this question would end up delving into such minute details which on the face of it really do not add or take away from the translation. At least now I am more familiar with those mystery abbreviations.

Chris watts