creating a pointed qere isn't always easy
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:58 am
Many of us are used to a representation of the Hebrew Bible we might call "KuQp": ketiv unpointed, qere pointed.
(A slight variation we might call "KaQp" also exists, e.g. in Dotan's BHL: ketiv accented, qere (fully) pointed.)
BHS, like the great medieval manuscripts, uses "KpQu": ketiv pointed, qere unpointed (the opposite of KuQp).
While we might be aware of this difference, we might think that going from KpQu to KuQp is, while annoying to do on the fly, a more or less mechanical transformation.
Sometimes it is easy like that. But:
(WLC's KuQp representation of ketiv/qere is one of the very few ways in which it diverges from being a quite-literal transcription of the BHS body text.)
(A slight variation we might call "KaQp" also exists, e.g. in Dotan's BHL: ketiv accented, qere (fully) pointed.)
BHS, like the great medieval manuscripts, uses "KpQu": ketiv pointed, qere unpointed (the opposite of KuQp).
While we might be aware of this difference, we might think that going from KpQu to KuQp is, while annoying to do on the fly, a more or less mechanical transformation.
Sometimes it is easy like that. But:
- Sometimes it is not clear how to map the points on the ketiv to the letters of the qere.
- Sometimes, mapping isn't even enough:
- Sometimes one must add a point to the qere that is not present in the ketiv.
- Even more rarely, sometimes one must remove a point from the ketiv, i.e. sometimes one must decline to map a ketiv point to the qere!
(WLC's KuQp representation of ketiv/qere is one of the very few ways in which it diverges from being a quite-literal transcription of the BHS body text.)