The Serugin, Te’amim, and Meturgeman in Christian Perspective-part 13

The Serugin, Te’amim, and Meturgeman in Christian Perspective-part 13 

                The lack of Masorete knowledge of these graphic signs brings the theory of the te’amim being of Masoretic origin into serious question.  The result of this confusion seems to have caused Christian Bible exegetes and historians to become silent about the origin, meaning and relevance of these graphic signs or consideration of them being a precise, or any kind of musical notation for that matter.  I know that since we “see through a glass darkly” we do not have perfect or complete knowledge of these ancient symbols found above and below the OT manuscripts, but surely Christian scholars should care about these ancient signs above and below the OT Texts enough to at least retain them in their usable knowledge of OT Scripture.  Is this a testimony that Christian scholars ignore what they do not know or understand?  Should they not be curious about the great volume of writings that over the centuries have considered the accentuation of OT Scripture to be valuable? 

            There has been general agreement among authors, especially those who wrote from the time of the Talmud, that all of the entire Tanakh was intended to be sung.  A plausible hypothesis is that part or all of the purpose of the serugin abbreviated texts was to insure accurate intoning of Scripture. Furthermore, it seems possible that the Karaites believed that this “wall around the Torah” could only accurately be accomplished if they were in some way able keep the original melodies that accompanied the Holy Writ from being vilified in any manner.  This was no doubt accomplished by the accurate precise notation provided above and below the texts of the entire Hebrew OT which were possibly protected for Levite use in the abbreviated manuscripts.  The fact that the Bible manuscripts were abbreviated attests to the fact that they had to be used by someone who had practically memorized the OT Texts.