SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

198 Chapter 5: Writing Practices
4QCommGen A (4Q252) I 4 at the end of the line flush left with the vertical line (vague imprint; fig. 22 . 4). 4
11QTb (11Q20) IV 9 (fig. 2 2 . 5); 5 V 9.
Additional shapes:
1QIsaa : one or two dots at the end of lines level with the tops of the letters. See III 6 (two dots [Isa 3:4]; fig.
1 3); 3 IV 8 (two dots [Isa 4:4]); VIII 9 (two dots [Isa 8:17]); XX 10 (two dots [Isa 25:11]; fig. 1 3); 3 XXI 7, 12 (single
dots [Isa 37:1, 4]); XXIII 2 (single dot [Isa 28:25]), 13; XXVI 11, 29 (two dots [Isa 32:3, 18]). The data are recorded
by Qimron–Parry, Isaiah as ‘no V.’
4QCantb 1 4, 7, 11, 13; 2 i 4; 3, last line. The markings in this scroll best visible on photograph PAM 40.604
(see illustr. 8a) may be line-fillers, albeit of a different nature. 264 That scroll contains five different scribal marks in
frg. 1, at the ends of lines 4 (fig. 12 . 1; 1 paleo-Hebrew zayin?), 7 (fig. 12 . 2; 2 Cryptic A letter kaph or paleo-Hebrew
>ayin?), 9 (fig. 12 . 3, 3 cf. also fig. 1 5; 5 epsilon?), 11 (fig. 12 .4; .4 paleo-Hebrew sin/shin with a 90 degree rotation or
sigma?), 13 (fig. 1 2. 5; 5 paleo-Hebrew bet?), and probably also in frg. 2 I 4, and at the left edge of the last line of frg. 3
(fig. 12 . 6; 6 gamma? or a sign similar in shape to a diple obelismene [a sign used in the Greek scribal tradition for
separating different sections in tragedies and comedies]?). These markings probably represent letters in the paleo-
Hebrew script or the Cryptic A script (§ 4 above), or a combination of several scripts, including Greek (for the latter,
cf. figs. 12 . 3 and 12. 6). 6 Since the Cryptic A script is used for Qumran sectarian writings, the appearance of these
letters in 4QCantb could point to the use of this scroll within the Qumran community.
4QHistorical Text E (4Q333) 1 2 end of line (fig. 11 . 6). 6 The inverted paragraphos at the end of the line
possibly represents a special type of line-filler.
Line-fillers are also known from:
• Egyptian literary texts (Janzen, Hiërogliefen, 47).
• Ancient Greek literary texts; for example, see the wedge-formed shapes in Genesis and the Minor Prophets in
codex W; P.Chester Beatty VI (963) of Numbers and Deuteronomy of the end of 2 CE or the beginning of 3 CE; see
further Gardthausen, Griechische Palaeographie, 406–7.
• Greek documentary texts.
• Various manuscripts of T, such as MS Vatican Urbinati 2 (high dots) and Targum Neophyti which filled up the
ends of the lines with the beginning letter(s) of the first word on the following line.
• The medieval tradition of MT and SP. For example, codex L of MT used dots as line-fillers before the
penultimate words in Exodus 15 in order that the last words would be flush with the left marginal line (see the
plates and analysis in Sirat, Ha-ketav, 37–9; Beit-Arié, Hebrew Codicology, 88; Tov, TCHB, pl. 12; Birnbaum,
“Michigan Codex,” 384). The scribe of L also filled in the ends of several lines in Exodus 14 with parts of letters.
(7) Separation dots between words (fig. 17) 17
A dot is occasionally inserted level with the tops of the letters or slightly above them, in order to
separate two words lest they be understood as one continuous word or context. This practice is
evidenced for seven texts written according to the Qumran scribal practice and one text not
written in that practice, 4QMessianic Apocalypse (4Q521). See also the re-division sign
described in § 2v above and illustrated in fig. 23. 23
1QS XI 15 yla hta ˚wrb ú≥wtrapt. A single dicolon-like indication is found in the space between the words above
and below the writing surface (fig. 17). 17 Beyond the space between the words no special space was left by the
According to Stegemann, in these cases in the Vorlage of the present copy of the scroll these signs occurred in the top
line. Even though the layout had changed in the present copy, these X-signs were copied as such. This pertains also to
other instances of an X occurring in the middle or at the end of the column: IV 11, 14; V 12, 14; VI 13; IX 13. The instances
of the latter type, however, cast doubts on this explanation. Another explanation was suggested by H. G. Snyder (see n.
261), 40 according to whom this letter ‘marks the occurrence of a double pesher.’
264 They appear in the spaces at the ends of lines that were slightly or much shorter than the surrounding ones. If they were
used as line-fillers, their use is not consistent. In three of the five occurrences in frg. 1, they could be line-fillers in
spaces left uninscribed (lines 4, 9, 11), but in lines 7 and 13 they occur in ‘open sections.’ The possible signs in frgs. 2
and 3 are of an unclear nature. It is less likely that the signs somehow referred to the content of the manuscript
indicating change of topic or speaker, since they occur in the middle of sentences. At the same time, they may refer to
words in the middle of the line, such as the paleo-Hebrew zayin in I 4 possibly referring to rymz and the paleo-Hebrew
shin (?) in I 9 referring to [mç (Cant 2:14; personal communication, M. Hopf).