Markings In Aleppo Codex - Deuteronomy 31:29-30

[Moses Gummadi]

Can someone please tell me what these markings between the words are in Deut 31:29-30? Thank you.

Aleppo Codex (page 7):

[Jason Hare]

I think it’s just used to make space in the line. A way to make the sides of the text appear justified and spaced out. Or, maybe it’s a way not to hold the material in your mind as you read it, since it is a curse on Israel for walking away from God. Basically, if you break up the text, perhaps the curse isn’t valid. Not sure.

[Moses Gummadi]

Or, maybe it’s a way not to hold the material in your mind as you read it, since it is a curse on Israel for walking away from God. Basically, if you break up the text, perhaps the curse isn’t valid.

Sounds logical. Thank you.

[ducky]

HI,

I see it is written above, but I just want to add something.

These signs indeed come to fill the space, But the question is Why. After all, there is space to write the words in a regular way.

In this case, there is a Masoretic "rule" that the page needs to start with the word ואעידה
(there are a few pages that according to Masoretic rules need to start with specific words).

Therefore, the scribe, on the previous page, left 5 blank lines (and filled them with signs), and also, enlarge the letters, in the written lines, a little bit to fill the lines.

That is to make sure that the next page (the one that we're talking about) would start with the word ואעידה.

But the rule for this page is not only for the first word ואעידה.

It is said that there should be six lines before the song, to start with that first word:
1. ואעידה
2. אחרי
3. הדרך
4. באחרית
5. להכעיסו
6. קהל

And so, he created these spaces to fix his lines according to this order.