SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 215
added below the line in 11QT a (11Q19) LX 10. For additional examples, see ch. 4f (‘The written
text vis-à-vis horizontal and vertical ruling,’ system 6). For economy of space, letters or words
were often added below the last word in the line in tefillin and mezuzot (ch. 7c). In these texts,
scribes had almost no choice since the ragged shape of tefillin did not enable the completion of
words at the edges.
There was rarely room for words to be added in the line itself. For example, scribe A of 1QH a
II (Sukenik = Puech col. X) 23 left out a word in wrg m hmhw which was filled in by a later scribe
with hkta written in petite letters. As a consequence, the final text reads: wrg hktam hmhw.
The writing of letters above the line was permitted by y. Meg. 1.71c:
twzwzmb alw ˆylyptb al ˆylwt ˆya µyrpsb ˆylwt
One may hang in scrolls, but one may not hang
in tefillin or mezuzot. 283
Likewise, b. Menah≥. 30b (cf. Sof. 5.4) approved of the erasure or correction of a word and the writing of the divine
name in its stead or above the line:
πa rmwa yswy ybr hdwhy ybr yrbd .rrgh µwqm l[ µçh ta btwkw rrgç hm ta hlwtw btkç hm ta rrwg µçb
h[wfh
hklh . . . ˆylwt ˆya wtxqm ˆylwt wlwk µçh lk rmwa yrwzç ç”r .btwkw qjwm πa rmwa qjxy ybr .µçh ta ˆylwt
yrwzç ç”rk
If omitted the name of God , he should erase the
word that was written and insert it above the line, and should write the name upon the erasure. This is
the opinion of R. Judah. R. Jose says: ‘He may even insert the name above the line.’ R. Isaac says:
‘He may even wipe away and write .’ R. Simeon
of Shezur says: ‘He may write the whole name above the line but not a part of it ...’ The halakha is in
accordance with R. Simeon of Shezur.
Sof. 5.8 restricts the addition of lines in the middle of the text:
rwrgy alç dblbw çlç btwkw µytç .µytç btwkw tja rrwg .tw[fh dgn ala ˆyfyçh dgnm hlwt wnya hfyçh ta h[wfh
çlç
If he omits a line in error, he may not suspend it between the lines, but inserts it in close proximity to
the place of the error by erasing one and writing two in its place, or two
lines and writing three; provided only that he does not erase three lines.
However, this dictum probably refers to omissions recognized by the original scribe, while in the cases under review
the omissions were added by later scribes. In the case of 4QJer a (quoted above), the corrector probably had little
choice but to act as he did, that is to add lines in small letters between the original lines, in the left margin and in
the space under the text.
vii. Supralinear addition of a word replacing a linear word
Usually, the added elements were meant to correct the linear text by including the addition in the
text itself. A few supralinear additions, however, were written above the linear word with the
intention of replacing the word in the text, even though that word was not canceled formally by
means of one of the cancellation systems.
dbk
1QM XI 8 µó≥jó≥ló≥hl. Through the canceling of three letters and the supralinear addition of three other letters,
an original µjlhl was changed to dbkhl.
hwhy
1QIsa a III 24 (Isa 3:17)
ú yn≥w≥d≥a≥≥≥≥ ó
wyrbd
2QapocrDavid (2Q22) II 3 wykrd lkb
283 See, however, the discussion in b. Menah≥. 29b, y. Shabb. 16.15b concerning the validity of a relatively large number of
such additions.