Scribal Wit: Aramaic Mnemonics in the Leningrad Codex

199 Pages·2013·2.11 MB·English

by  David Marcus

Scribal Wit
Texts and Studies
10
Series Editor
H. A. G. Houghton
Editorial Board
Jeff W. Childers
Christina M. Kreinecker
Alison G. Salvesen
Peter J. Williams
Text and Studies is a series of monographs devoted to the study of
Biblical and Patristic texts. Maintaining the highest scholarly
standards, the series includes critical editions, studies of primary
sources, and analyses of textual traditions.
Scribal Wit
Aramaic Mnemonics in the Leningrad Codex
David Marcus
9
34
2013
Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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Copyright © 2 0 1 3 by Gorgias Press LLC
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Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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2013 ܐܒ 9
ISBN 978-1-61143-904-5 ISSN 1935-6927
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data
Marcus, David, 1941-
Scribal Wit : Aramaic mnemonics in the
Leningrad Codex / by David Marcus.
pages cm. -- (Texts and studies, ISSN
1935-6927 ; 10)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61143-904-5
1. Bible. Old Testament. Hebrew. Leningrad
Codex--Mnemonics devices. 2. Bible. Old
Testament. Hebrew--Versions--Leningrad
Codex--Memorizing. 3. Mnemonics. I. Title.
BS715.5.L46M37 2013
221.4’46--dc23
2013047109
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ..................................................................................... v
Abbreviations .......................................................................................... vii
Preface ....................................................................................................... ix
Chapter 1: The nature of the Aramaic mnemonics............................. 1
Chapter 2: Hebrew grammar as reflected in the mnemonics .......... 13
Chapter 3: Identification of the mnemonics ...................................... 19
Chapter 4: The corpus of the Aramaic mnemonics in ML............... 23
Epilogue: Practical use of the mnemonics ....................................... 157
Appendix A: The list of the Aramaic mnemonics .......................... 159
Appendix B: The lemmas of the Aramaic mnemonics .................. 167
Works Cited ........................................................................................... 173
Index of Biblical Verses ....................................................................... 181

v

ABBREVIATIONS
cj conjunction
cstr construct
fem feminine
fol folio
Fragment Fragment Targum
impf imperfect
infin infinitive
lit literally
masc masculine
MA Aleppo Codex.
MC Cairo Codex.
ML Leningrad Codex
MLm Codex Leningrad M.
MM1 Madrid Codex M1
MS5 Sassoon 507
Mf Masorah finalis
Mm Masorah magna
Mp Masorah parva
ms(s) manuscript(s)
n note
pl plural
prep preposition
sfx suffix
sg singular
vol volume
vii

PREFACE
Aramaic mnemonics, or memory aids, are short witty sentences
written in Aramaic on the margins of ancient Hebrew biblical
manuscripts. These mnemonics are part of a vast collection of
notes written by scribes over the course of the early centuries of
the Common Era (500–1000 CE). The scribes who wrote these
notes and transmitted the text of the Hebrew Bible were called
Masoretes. However, most modern printed texts of the Hebrew
Bible do not contain these Masoretic notes, and so do not contain
these Aramaic mnemonics. This book analyzes seventy-four
Aramaic mnemonics that the author has assembled from the
Leningrad Codex (ML), the oldest extant Hebrew manuscript of the
entire Bible which is dated to 1008 CE.1 Some of these mnemonics
have not hitherto been identified and are published here for the
first time. Each mnemonic is set alongside the Hebrew verses it
represents, and every Aramaic part of the mnemonic is placed on a
matching line with its Hebrew equivalent, and both are highlighted
in a special font. Since every ancient manuscript has its own
individual collection of Masoretic notes this book deals only with
the collection of Aramaic mnemonics that are found in the
Leningrad Codex. However, for comparison purposes five other
early Hebrew manuscripts are also regularly consulted:
(1) Cairo Codex (MC), whose date has been placed from the mid-9th

1 The manuscript is housed in the Russian National Library in St.
Petersburg, previously known as the Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public
Library of Leningrad. The most recent fascimile edition is by Freedman et
al., The Leningrad Codex.
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