An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

linguistic interest because they may reveal phonological changes, leading to, for
example, the formation of homonyms within the language. Such lapses of the ear
are, however, difficult to study.
d Problems with the MT as a record. We have already called attention to the
tendency to modernize and smooth the text. Certain problems arise because the
tradition did not keep pace with linguistic change. An example from English may
clarify this group of problems. In late medieval English manuscripts, the letter y
and the now obsolete letter þ (“thorn,” for th) became similar, and the word ‘the’
was written in such a way that it might be mistaken for ye or y e . This short form
was retained in early printing faces, but readers of the manuscripts and early
books knew that the article was ‘the,’ not ‘ye.’ Modern misunderstanding of this
short form has led to the pseudo-archaic word ‘ye’[Page 24] found in shop signs,
for example, ‘Ye Olde Junke Shoppe.’ Thus hundreds of years after the letter þ
disappeared from English orthography, many well-educated people believe that
English once had an article pronounced ‘ye.’
e Such morphological complexities affect Hebrew also. The archaic grammatical
formant called the enclitic mem, of uncertain function (see 9.8), was generally
reinterpreted by later scribes as a plural marker; the orthography was revised to
match, so ם- became (among other things) םי-, and the oral tradition was
reshaped.
f Vowel letters of the MT. We noted above that vowel letters were only later
introduced into the oldest texts, at first only for final long vowels, and later for
medial long vowels. These letters were added sporadically and inconsistently. The
MT reflects all stages of this practice. F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman put it this
way:
Although persistent efforts were made to standardize the orthography of the Bible,
they were never completely successful, and clear evidence of the earlier stages of the
development of Hebrew spelling has been preserved in the text. Thus the Hebrew
Bible which tradition has delivered to us is in reality a palimpsest; underlying the
visible text, the varied spelling customs of older ages have been recorded. 70
The lack of vowel letters, especially in the very early period of the text, was an
undoubted source of ambiguity and may have contributed to textual error. For
example, the sequence of letters in the MT of Exod 15:3
המחלמ שיא הוהי
70 Cross and Freedman, Early Hebrew Orthography, 1. See also the fuller and more
nuanced discussion of F. I. Andersen and A. Dean Forbes, Spelling in the Hebrew
Bible (Rome: Biblical Institute, 1986).