Symmetrically Designed Sifrei Torah: A Quantitative Analysis - Hakirah

Symmetrically Designed Sifrei Torah: A Quantitative Analysis : 217
the 46-verses design. While we have identified the evidence pointing
to a 46-verses design, we have not addressed why the Chachamim
specifically choose the number 46. In order to make the 46 design
work, the Chachamim were forced to create a 5,888 verse “virtual”
Torah whose final 128 th page could accommodate 45 verses more
than is necessary. The following chart offers 4 other possible ways to
break up the Torah into an equal number of verses without having to
add more than 11 verses to the actual count of 5,845 verses. In each
of these cases, the total number of pages is not dramatically different
from the 128-page S”T we have described, but the final page is
almost full with “actual” verses. Why then did the soferim choose to
use 46 verses per page?
Case Total # of Verses # of Pages Verses per Page
1 5,856 122 48
2 5,852 133 44
3 5,850 130 45
4 5,848 136 43
We suggest that 46 was chosen precisely because it has the
property first mentioned in Section (9), that the middle number of
words, letters and verses is at the top of three successive pages. 73 By
maneuvering the verse that contained the middle letter in a S”T
divided by letters, and the verse that contained the middle word in a
S”T divided by words to fall in the first verse in consecutive pages of
a S”T, the knowledge of the positions of the middle letter and middle
word was preserved in the event that anyone would want to design a
While the number of letters per word is almost the same for all
Chumashim, the number of words per 46-verses page varies greatly by
Chumash, with Devarim having 17.4% more words per page than
Bamidbar. Thus the 129 written pages for a Sefer Torah designed to have
620 words per page will be more similar than the 128 written pages for
a S”T designed to have 46 verses per page. Whether it is the height,
width or a combination of both that will be manipulated to
accommodate the disparity in words, the fact is that the pages will be
different. This in turn will affect the circumference of the S”T and the
number of blank pages needed to enwrap it.
73 The vav of gachon and דרש דרש are within 5 words from the start of the
page.