The Serugin, Te’amim, and Meturgeman in Christian Perspective-part 4

The Serugin, Te’amim, and Meturgeman in Christian Perspective-part 4

            A recent book called Michael Klein on the Targums gives information about the serugin.  In chapter 8 Klein states, “It has more recently been observed that the serugin phenomenon may be related to Masoretic activity, in addition to it serving as an economic technic to save on expensive writing materials.” Klein, MKotT, p.8.   With regard to a recently discovered Genizah fragment [an ancient fragment found in a storage place] Kline quotes E. J. Revell, ‘It seems clear that its [the serugin fragment’s] main purpose is to mark correct positions for the accents, so the text is perhaps to be taken as a sort of ‘manual of the Accent System’ for a scholar of naqdan [a punctuator or grammarian].’” Klein, MKotT, p.8.   As I mentioned earlier, the explanations in brackets are mine.  The possible reason for the vague connection between the serugin and the work of Masoretes is that the Masoretes at the school of Tiberius probably copied the te’amim into MT from these abbreviated manuscripts although scholars do not have enough knowledge to defend this hypothesis.

            One of the important aspects of the quote above is that the author recognizes that the serugin texts were used by scholars with at least some knowledge of the meaning of the te’amim.  A questionable aspect concerning the author’s opinion is that he believes that the serugin manuscripts were perhaps training manuals.  Writings about the serugin texts substantiate the belief that these manuscripts were prepared utilized by those who were not beginning students of naqdan.  So, the term “scholar” cannot be referring to a beginning student who needed a training manual. On the contrary, according to the majority opinion of authors, these manuscripts were used by those who were already extremely knowledgeable of the te’amim [like a meturgeman] and had the OT Scripture practically memorized—these scholars obviously did not need a training manual.  They only needed the abbreviated texts as a mnemonic [an aid to memory].  Another insightful aspect of this quotation is that the author recognized that the purpose of the manuscripts was “to mark correct positions for the accents”.  This is the reason that so many authors report that the te’amim controlled intoning of the Scripture.