The
Serugin, Te’amim, and Meturgeman in Christian Perspective-part 9
If the graphic signs
which the Tiberian scholars entered above and below the entire OT texts had
been a current notion and invention of these Masoretes, it would seem that
their copy work would have been met with great resistance since there was such
great respect for the “sanctity” of the Tanakh.
This meticulous respect for not altering the OT texts is foreign to many
current Bible translators who do not hesitate to change the Holy Writ as they
see fit if they believe that changes make the Scripture more understandable. The reader should not confuse some of the
ancient rabbines’ refusal to allow any reading of the OT texts in Temple
worship except from the Consonantal Texts with the fact that no one seemed to
complain that the te’amim were not
ancient and therefore would not be allowable in the Masoretic Texts.
Since
there were three systems of graphic signs that existed in antiquity, there has
been much confusion that has surrounded the age, use, preciseness, and meaning
of the accents [te’amim]. Almost all those who are knowledgeable of serugin history believe that these
graphic signs represent more than grammatical syntax. The Encyclopedia
Judaica gives hints concerning the function of the te’amim in serugin texts. “The vocalization and accentuation signs in
each system constitute a complete indivisible set of graphemes to guide the
reader in exact reading including not only the correct pronunciation of the
words but also the correct intonation of the verses and, as pointed out above,
precise cantillation.” E J, Volume 16, p.1433.
No comments:
Post a Comment