Adapted, by permission, from Israel Yeivin, Introduction to the Tiberian Masorah, translated and edited by E. J. Revell. Copyright © 1980 by the Society of Biblical Literature.

Musical Gaʿya

318

The names “heavy gaʿya” and “light gaʿya” (געיה כבדה and געיה קלה) for the two basic categories of musical gaʿya were introduced by Yequtiʾel ha-Naqdan, and were, as Dotan has remarked, an unfortunate innovation. Dotan, in his edition of the Diqduqe ha-Ṭeʿamim uses the terms “small gaʿya” and “great gaʿya” (געיה קטנה and געיה גדולה), terms which are used in the Masorah. These terms are not appropriate either, for although in the Masorah the term “small gaʿya” is used for gaʿya on a closed syllable, it may also include gaʿya on an open syllable, and it seems quite likely that the term “great gaʿya” in the Masorah refers to an accent. For this reason the descriptive names “gaʿya on a closed syllable” and “gaʿya on an open syllable” are used here.

Gaʿya on a Closed, Short-vowelled Syllable

319

Regular Structure. A word like מִתְקַטְּלִים is said to have regular structure because it has:

In words of regular structure, the initial closed syllable generally has gaʿya if the word has a disjunctive accent. E.g.:

The table below further describes the pattern we have been discussing so far, exemplified by the prototype word מִתְקַטְּלִים. The table also describes two variations on that pattern. Words matching either of those two additional patterns are also said to have regular structure.

The table below shows prototype words for all three patterns. It also shows one concrete example of each of them. Each concrete example has a disjunctive accent, and in each example, the initial closed syllable has gaʿya, as is generally the case when such a word has a disjunctive accent.

Further examples of all three patterns are shown in the three tables below.

This category of gaʿya is mentioned in the Diqduqe ha-Ṭeʿamim (Dotan 1967, section 15). An expanded statement is given in the Qunṭrese ha-Masorah, as indicated in the notes there, and in Yeivin, 1968, p. 96.

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה Ex 1:10, הַֽכַּרְמְלִֽי׃ 1S 30:5, מִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִ֖ים Gen 37:9, וַֽיְלַמְּדָ֖הּ Dt 31:22, מִֽצִּדְּךָ֙ Ez 4:8, וּֽנְתַקְּנ֔וּהוּ Jud 20:32, אֶֽת־לִבְּךָ֛ 1S 9:20, וַֽיִּשְׂטְמֻ֖הוּ Gen 49:23, הַֽמִּשְׁפְּתָֽיִם׃ Gen 49:14, מִֽקַּבְצְאֵ֑ל 2S 23:20, מִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֞ Lev 21:17, וּֽלְכׇל־מְלֶ֖אכֶת 1C 28:13, עַֽל־כׇּל־פְּנֵ֖י 1C 5:10, אֶֽת־בַּת־בְּנָ֞הּ Lev 18:17, בִּֽנְהַר־כְּבָֽר׃ Ez 10:15, לִֽמְנַאֲצַ֔י Jer 23:17, וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֛דְנָה Gen 41:3, מִֽדַּהֲר֖וֹת Jud 5:22, וַֽתַּעֲלִ֗י Is 57:8, אֶֽת־הַחֲנִית֙ 2K 11:10.

“Fully Regular” Structure

320

Words of the three patterns described in #319 are said to have fully regular structure. As mentioned above, if a word of this structure has a disjunctive accent, gaʿya is generally marked, but if the accent is conjunctive, gaʿya is generally not marked. This general rule holds good in about 90% of the cases but there are exceptions. In a few dozen cases the accent is disjunctive, but gaʿya is not marked. E.g.:

Conversely, there are about 200 cases in which the accent is conjunctive, but gaʿya is nevertheless marked. E.g.:

Biblical references in this section: מִן־הַשְּׁבִי֙ Neh 1:3, וְאֶת־הַתְּכֵ֖לֶת Ex 28:5, וַיֶּאֱהַב֙ Gen 34:3, וַיֶּאֱחֹ֞ז Jud 16:3, וְאֶת־הַ֠חֲזִ֠יר Lev 11:7 and Dt 14:8, יִֽטַּמְּא֣וּ Ez 37:23, וַיִּֽתְקַדְּשׁ֥וּ 2C 30:24, וַֽיִּמְצְא֥וּ Gen 11:2, אַֽל־תִּשְׂמְחִ֤י Is 14:29, אֶֽת־מַעְבְּר֤וֹת Jud 3:28, אֶֽת־כׇּל־דְּגֵ֥י Nu 11:22, וְעַֽל־כׇּל־עֲדַ֥ת Jos 22:20.

321

These exceptions are one of the major subjects of variation between ben Asher and ben Naftali; and indeed of marginal notes on variants in general. E.g.:

(In this and many tables that follow, we use an upwards arrow (↑) to mean “same as the cell above.”)

Below is a table showing the syllable structure of the examples used in the two tables above.

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: וַיֶּחֱזַק֙ Ex 7:13 and Ex 9:35, מִן־הַשְּׁתִ֖י Lev 13:56, וַיֶּאֱהַ֖ל Gen 13:12, אֶל־מֶחֱזָ֖ה 1K 7:4 and 1K 7:5, הִתְיַצְּב֣וּ 2C 20:17, הַֽנִּבְּאִ֥ים Jer 27:15, וַֽיַּחֲנ֧וּ 1K 20:29, וַיִּרְדְּפ֤וּ 2K 25:5.

“Almost Fully Regular” Structure

322

Words with patterns similar to those described in #319, but showing slight differences in structure, are still considered to have regular structure, though their structure is not fully regular. We refer to such words’ structure as “almost fully regular” (AFR). Words in this category show slightly less tendency to use gaʿya than words with fully regular structure. The following four patterns are included in this category:

AFR1: Words of this pattern would conform to one of the three fully regular patterns were it not for the fact that their buffer syllable has vocal shewa attached to it.

(We now see that in words of fully regular structure, the buffer syllable must not have a vocal shewa attached to it.)

AFR2: Words of this pattern would conform to FR3 were it not for the fact that their buffer syllable has a long vowel, such as qameṣ. (Recall that the buffer syllable of FR3 is constrained to have a short vowel.)

Words of pattern AFR2 like הַפּוֹעֲלִים (as הַכֹּהֲנִים, הַשֹּׁעֲרִים, etc.) usually do not have gaʿya and in general the number of exceptions to the rule in this category is much greater than among words with fully regular structure.

AFR3: Words of this pattern have:

• A buffer syllable that is open and long-vowelled.
• A vocal shewa that is notated as a simple shewa.

An example of this pattern is מִתְבָּרְכִים. In words of this pattern, gaʿya is generally not marked. There are, however, a few exceptions. E.g.:

AFR4: Words of this pattern have:

• A buffer syllable that is open, with either a short or long vowel.
• A vocal shewa whose letter is the first of an identical pair. (The stress syllable starts with the second letter of this pair.)

Examples of pattern AFR4 include the following:

(Words of pattern AFR4 that have a buffer syllable with a long vowel would also seem to match either pattern AFR2 or AFR3. We can make the patterns exclusive by adding that the letter bearing the vocal shewa of AFR2 and AFR3 must differ from the start letter of the stress syllable.)

The following table summarizes all this.

(Above, “FIP” stands for “first [of an] identical pair [of letters].”)

(Above, “the appropriate shewa” means simple shewa on a non-guttural and ḥaṭef shewa on a guttural.)

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֑ית 1C 2:3, אֲשֶֽׁר־תְּבַשְּׁלוּ֙ Ex 16:23, וַיִּֽלָּחֲמ֖וּ Jos 10:36, וּֽנְשָׂאֲךָ֖ 2K 14:10, וַיִּֽתְגָּעֲשׁ֖וּ 2S 22:8, אֶֽת־הָאֲרִ֛י 1S 17:36, אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔ Gen 32:27, וּֽזְרֹעֲךָ֖ 1K 8:42, מִֽגֹּאֲלֵ֖נוּ Rut 2:20, אֶֽת־מֹעֲדֵ֖י Lev 23:44, וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖ם Jos 22:6, בִּֽלְבָבְךָ֖ Dt 30:14 and elsewhere, לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֖ם Lev 19:5 and elsewhere, וּֽבְשָׂרְךָ֖ 2S 5:1, וַֽיְהַלְל֖וּ Jud 16:24, יִֽתְפַּלְל֖וּ 1K 8:30, הִֽתְקוֹשְׁשׁ֖וּ Zeph 2:1, וַֽיְכֹנְנֶֽךָ׃ Dt 32:6, הִֽתְרֹעֲעָ֖ה Is 24:19.

323

Gaʿya is sometimes marked on a closed syllable in a single word having both of the following two irregularities:

• A buffer syllable that has, or could have, gaʿya.
• No vocal shewa, i.e. the stress syllable comes right after the buffer syllable.

(While this structure is non-regular, it is close enough to regular that we mention it here rather than in the next section, which covers cases where gaʿya is marked on a closed syllable in more arbitrarily non-regular words.)

Words of this “buffer could have gaʿya, no vocal shewa” category include the following two sub-categories:

1) Words of a closed syllable followed by some form from the root היה or חיה which could have gaʿya on the first syllable (#355), as אִם־יִהְיֶ֞ה — bN has אִֽם־ .

2) Words with a buffer syllable marked with gaʿya and closed by a guttural (#354). E.g.:

(In all four examples above, the first gaʿya is musical, the second phonetic.)

(Note that we consider the initial shureq in וּֽזְרַֽחְיָ֖ה to start a closed syllable with a short vowel. See #349.)

These “buffer could have gaʿya, no vocal shewa” words are somewhat similar to words of pattern AFR3, which have prototype מִתְבָּרְכִים (#322). They are similar since in AFR3 words, too, the buffer syllable ( בָּ ) could have gaʿya (albeit on an open syllable).

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: אִם־יִהְיֶ֞ה Is 10:22, וּֽזְרַֽחְיָ֖ה 1C 5:32, יִֽשְׁמַֽעְיָ֖הוּ 1C 27:19, יִֽשְׁמַֽע־נָא֙ 1S 26:19, אֶֽסְלַֽח־לָ֔ךְ Jer 5:7, אֶֽסְלַֽח־ Jer 5:7.

Non-regular Structure

324

The most common use of gaʿya on a closed syllable is in words of regular structure. Words with structure which is non-regular — i.e. words that are not patterned like מִתְקַטְּלִים or its variants described above — rarely show gaʿya on a closed syllable. There are no fixed rules for the use of gaʿya on such words.

1) In some 15 cases there is a gaʿya on the fourth syllable before the stress. E.g.:

2) In some 200 cases there is a gaʿya on the third syllable before the stress. This occurs mainly when the accent is one of the “high” trilled disjunctives (#195). E.g., with gershayim, pazer, telisha gedolah, and zarqa:

However, gaʿya on the third syllable before the stress may occur with other disjunctives, as with tevir and pashṭa below:

And gaʿya on the third syllable before the stress may even occur with conjunctives, as with munaḥ and merka below:

3) In some 30 cases there is a gaʿya on the second syllable before the stress — mostly on a word with penultimate stress marked with pashṭa. E.g.:

However, gaʿya on the second syllable before the stress also occurs with other accents. E.g.:

This category has a number of words in which the gaʿya could be classified as phonetic (#350).

4) In some 60 cases there is a gaʿya on the syllable right before the stress. In this position gaʿya is rarely marked for musical reasons. E.g.:

A gaʿya on the syllable right before the stress is usually marked for phonetic reasons (#350) and this may be the case even in some of the examples given above.

Biblical references in this section: אֶֽת־כׇּל־הַמְּקֹמ֞וֹת Dt 12:2, מִֽן־הַשִּׁיח֞וֹר Jos 13:3, מִֽמִּשְׁפַּחְתָּ֡ם Jud 18:2, אֶֽת־הַ֠גָּמָ֠ל Lev 11:4 and Dt 14:7, וּֽלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל֮ Gen 17:20, וּֽלְכׇל־בָּנֶ֛יהָ 1S 1:4, כׇֽל־הַנָּשִׁים֙ Ex 15:20, אֶֽת־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים Dt 5:22 in some editions; others have it as 5:18 or 19, וּֽבְכׇל־חַיַּ֥ת Gen 9:10, נִֽמְצָא־קֶ֙שֶׁר֙ Jer 11:9, מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ Lev 23:21 and elsewhere, וַיִּֽשְׁאֲבוּ־מַ֙יִם֙ 2S 23:16 and 1C 11:18, עַֽל־הַצּוּר֮ Ex 17:6, עַל־שְׂפַֽת־הַיָּ֖ם Jos 11:4 and 1S 13:5, עַֽם־גָּד֥וֹל Dt 9:2, וַאֲשֶֽׁר־נֶ֥גֶד Ez 42:1, נִֽזְעֲק֔וּ Jud 18:22, נִֽכְנְע֔וּ 2C 30:11, בְּשִֽׂפְמ֖וֹת 1S 30:28, שַֽׁלְמַ֛ן Hos 10:14, תַּֽדְשֵׁ֤א Gen 1:11, יַֽמְשֵׁ֖נִי 2S 22:17.

Gaʿya before Paseq

325

This is mostly found in cases like וַיֹּ֥אמֶֽר ‖ לֹ֖א , (φ1) where it is evidently used to mark a separation between the two words greater than that indicated by the paseq. (φ2) Gaʿya is only marked in this position in early manuscripts, and is rare even there.

Footnotes for this section:

Biblical references in this section: וַיֹּ֥אמֶֽר ‖ לֹ֖א 1K 2:30, וַיֹּ֣אמֶֽר ‖ לֹ֔א 1K 11:22, וַיֹּ֥אמֶֽר ‖ לֹֽא׃ Jud 12:5.

Gaʿya-OSR

326

This section covers gaʿya on syllables of the following types:

• Open, with either a long or a short vowel.
• Shewa-closed, with a long vowel.

This is the gaʿya called “light” by Yequtiʾel ha-Naqdan, and “great” by Dotan. We refer to it as gaʿya-OSR, where OSR stands for

• [on an] Open Syllable
• [or on the] Related [case of a shewa-closed, long-vowelled syllable]

With some exceptions (#352, #386), the Masoretes regarded shewa after a long vowel within a word as silent (לא יצא בפה). So, in a word like קָֽטְלוּ , the syllable marked by gaʿya is, in their view, closed, not open. However, because the rules for gaʿya in this situation are similar to those for its use on an open syllable, the two situations are described together. Note, however, that two different types of syllable are involved.

We divide the main uses of gaʿya-OSR into the following three cases:

(A full vowel is a long or short vowel. The short vowels do not include the ultra-short vowels. I.e., they do not include vocal shewa vowels, whether notated as simple shewa or ḥaṭef shewa.)

(Above, we characterize some syllables as full-vowelled even though this is redundant, since we are using the masoretic notion of a syllable, in which all syllables are, by definition, full-vowelled, though they may have a letter with some notation for vocal shewa attached to them.)

The use of gaʿya in these cases is not affected by the accent on the word. It occurs both with disjunctive and conjunctive accents. E.g.:

(The table above includes one syllable, כִּֽי־יְ , that, awkwardly, spans a maqqef boundary!)

Biblical references in this section: יֵֽאָמֵ֣ר Gen 22:14, כִּֽי־בָרֵ֣ךְ Gen 22:17, אָֽמַר־ל֣וֹ Gen 22:9, הַשְׁקִֽינִי־נָ֥א Gen 24:43, בַּֽעֲבוּר֙ Gen 21:30, כִּֽי־אֲנִ֧י Ez 37:14, יָֽדְךָ֙ Gen 22:12, נֵֽלְכָ֖ה Gen 22:5, וַיֹּֽאמְר֣וּ Gen 47:4, כִּֽי־יְרֵ֤א Gen 22:12.

327

Above we showed examples of gaʿya-OSR where the distinctive part of each example comes right before the stress syllable. (Indeed, using the masoretic notion of a syllable, the distinctive part of each example of case (ii) reaches into the ḥaṭef start of the stress syllable!) But if what comes right before the stress syllable is not a candidate for gaʿya-OSR, then gaʿya-OSR can also come earlier in the word, as shown in the table below.

Two gaʿya-OSR may be marked on a word if, moving backwards from the stress syllable, we find both of the following:

1. A syllable on which gaʿya-OSR could be marked, in the fashion we have been discussing so far: relative to the stress syllable.
2. A syllable on which gaʿya-OSR could be marked, in a new fashion: relative to the gaʿya-OSR already found. I.e., as if the gaʿya-OSR already found were the stress syllable.

Two gaʿya s are often marked on the same word in printed texts, but this is rare in manuscripts.

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: הָֽעַמֻּדִ֛ים Ex 27:10 and Ex 27:11, מֵֽהִסְתַּפֵּ֜חַ 1S 26:19, מֵֽהַתַּחְתֹּנ֛וֹת Ez 42:5, שַֽׁעַר־עִירֽוֹ׃ Gen 23:18, הָֽאֲדָמָ֛ה Gen 9:2, וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵן֩ Gen 23:19, לֹֽא־אֲדֹנִ֣י Gen 23:11, הָֽאֲחַשְׁתְּרָנִ֔ים Est 8:10, אֵֽרְדָה־נָּ֣א Gen 18:21, יָֽלְדָה־לּ֥וֹ Gen 21:3, לִֽישׁוּעָֽתְךָ֖ Gen 49:18, בְּהַֽעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ Nu 8:2, תּֽוֹעֲבֹֽתֵיהֶֽם׃ Ez 6:9, הָֽאַשְׂרִֽאֵלִ֑י Nu 26:31, בְּאֹֽהֶל־יַֽעֲקֹ֣ב׀ Gen 31:33.

328

If two adjacent syllables are both candidates for gaʿya-OSR, the one closer to the stress is usually chosen. E.g.:

(The table above includes one syllable, לָֽה־מְ , that, awkwardly, spans a maqqef boundary!)

This preference for the closer candidate is used in printed texts, and in some manuscripts, such as μA. In some other manuscripts, however, the candidate farther from the stress is preferred, either consistently or sporadically. E.g.:

We have also seen an example in #327 in which the candidate farther from the stress is chosen:

If the candidate farther from the stress is on a word with maqqef, and so preserves something of the original main stress of that word, then this farther candidate is given preference over the nearer one in the manuscripts. E.g.:

There are a few exceptions to this rule in the manuscripts, but not many. However, printed texts still give preference to the gaʿya nearer the stress. E.g. in such texts the first example above would be pointed כִּי־מָֽכְר֤וּ .

Biblical references in this section: וִיהֽוֹנָתָן֙ 1S 19:1, מֵאַֽחֲרָ֑י 2S 2:22, וְאוֹרִֽדְךָ֖ 1S 30:15, גְדוֹלָֽה־מְאֹ֖ד Jos 10:20, לִֽיהוֹשָׁפָט֙ 2C 20:2, הָֽרֹצְצ֖וֹת Amos 4:1, הֵֽרָאֹת֛וֹ Lev 13:7, מֵֽהַתַּחְתֹּנ֛וֹת Ez 42:5, כִּֽי־מָכְר֤וּ Gen 47:20, לֹֽא־תַעֲבֹ֨ר Gen 31:52, בְנֵֽי־יַעֲקֹ֖ב Gen 35:22, כִּֽי־יֵהָפֵ֤ךְ Is 60:5, הֽוּא־הָעֹבֵ֤ר Dt 9:3, כִּי־מָֽכְר֤וּ Gen 47:20.

329

As a general rule, gaʿya is only marked on an open syllable if there is some sort of buffer (a full vowel or a ḥaṭef ) between the open syllable and the stress syllable. But occasionally in the manuscripts, gaʿya is marked even without such a buffer. E.g.:

This occurs mostly in cases where two words are joined by maqqef. E.g.:

μL20 and some other manuscripts use gaʿya in this position quite often in the same word as the accent, especially if the accent is pashṭa. E.g.:

Some manuscripts with expanded Tiberian pointing also use gaʿya in these positions quite often. E.g., in Vatican manuscript Urbino 2: (φ1)

Gaʿya is not used in these situations in printed texts.

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: וַיִּֽירָֽאוּ׃ Gen 42:35, דָּֽמִי֙ 1S 26:20, כִּֽי־אֵ֛שׁ Jer 17:4, עַל־פְּרִֽי־גֹ֙דֶל֙ Is 10:12, אַנְשֵֽׁי־חַ֙יִל֙ Nah 2:4, כִּֽי־פִ֖י Gen 45:12, הָבֵֽא־נָ֤א Ex 4:6, לַֽחֶ֙רֶב֙ Jer 15:2, הַבָּֽאִים֙ Jer 26:2, בִּשְׁלֹֽשִׁ֣ים Ez 1:1, הָֽיֹ֣ה הָֽיָ֣ה Ez 1:3.

330

The use of gaʿya on an open syllable is not described in the masoretic literature or in other early sources, and there are only scattered references to this gaʿya. The Diqduqe ha-Ṭeʿamim (Baer-Strack 1879, #32) says:

The Horayat ha-Qore p. 90 (Dérenbourg, 1870, p. 398) says:

Gaʿya sometimes distinguishes meaning, as in the rule “forms from ירא have gaʿya, forms from ראה do not” and as in תִּשְׁנ֕וּ which means “do again” (שנה) and יִֽ֭שְׁנוּ which means “sleep” (ישן). Yequtiʾel ha-Naqdan was the first to draw up rules for the use of this gaʿya, and he has been followed by later scholars.

Biblical references in this section: וַיִּֽירְא֥וּ Gen 20:8, וַיִּרְא֥וּ Nu 17:24, תִּשְׁנ֕וּ Neh 13:21, יִֽ֭שְׁנוּ Prov 4:16.

331

Gaʿya-OSR is the most common category of gaʿya in the Bible, and occurs in thousands of words. In the early manuscripts, this gaʿya is not marked on all the words where it could be, but only on some of them, and in some manuscripts it is marked more commonly than in others. It seems probable that it was not considered important to mark it — possibly because it made less difference to the pronunciation of the word than did gaʿya on a closed syllable.

In μA, this gaʿya is most commonly marked on words with pashṭa or zaqef, less commonly on those with other disjunctives, and only rarely on words with conjunctives. It is marked in about 30% of the possible cases.

In μL and μS it is marked in about 40% of the possible cases. In μB and μS1 it is marked in about 20% of the possible cases. In μC this gaʿya is marked much more commonly — in about 75% of the possible cases.

The other early manuscripts mark this gaʿya in varying proportions of the possible cases. It is not always true that earlier manuscripts mark it less, as is shown by μB and μC, which are roughly contemporary. It is, however, generally true that later manuscripts mark this gaʿya more commonly, and the printed texts mark gaʿya on an open syllable regularly on every syllable suitable for it.

Gaʿya on an Open, Post-stress Syllable

332

A special case of gaʿya on an open syllable is after the stress. Gaʿya may be marked on an open syllable after penultimate stress if the next word has initial stress. Here are some examples where that initial stress is plain, where by “plain” we mean that it does not include a vocal shewa:

This plain type of this gaʿya is rare. It is most common in early manuscripts, but even there it occurs only in scattered places.

This gaʿya occurs more often where the stress syllable of the next word includes a vocal shewa. E.g.:

(As usual, the vocal shewa may be notated either as a simple shewa or as a ḥaṭef shewa.)

Like the plain type of this gaʿya, the shewa type is most common in early manuscripts, and is not marked in printed texts.

Biblical references in this section: עֲבָדֶ֥יךָֽ 2K 1:13, עָשִׂ֤יתָֽה 1S 15:6, עָ֤לָֽה Jer 9:20, ס֤וּרֽוּ Is 52:11, הוּחַ֤דָּֽה Ez 21:16, גִּבּ֤וֹרֵֽי 1C 12:26, הֵילִ֤ילִֽי Is 14:31, פַּדֶּ֣נָֽה Gen 28:2 and elsewhere, וַיֵּנִקֵ֤הֽוּ Dt 32:13, לְמַ֨עְלָֽה Ez 41:7, בֹּ֤שְׁנֽוּ Jer 9:18.

Gaʿya with Shewa

333

Gaʿya marked with either simple shewa or ḥaṭef shewa at the start of a word indicates (as gaʿya always does) that the syllable must be slowed or lengthened. Consequently that shewa becomes a vowel — probably equivalent to an ordinary short vowel. This gaʿya is rare in the twenty one books (only some 200 cases occur) but it is common in the three books. This is a musical gaʿya, but it is often used before a guttural, which suggests that there may be phonetic reasons for its use. The system of marking it is similar to that for gaʿya on a closed syllable, but there are no firm rules for its use.

This gaʿya is marked on the second, third, or fourth syllable before the stress. It is usually used with “high” accents (#195), as we see in the examples below, with gershayim, pazer (φ1), telisha, and zarqa.

It also occasionally occurs with other accents as

(In the last example above, אֲֽשֶׁר־לַדְּבִ֖יר , we see that gaʿya with shewa is given preference over gaʿya on a closed syllable in a word with regular structure.)

Gaʿya is also used on shewa before the vowel of the syllable right before the stress syllable. This occurs mostly on words with zaqef. E.g.:

This does occasionally occur with other accents as

Footnote for this section:

Biblical references in this section: וְֽאֶת־כׇּל־הַשָּׂרִ֞ים 2K 24:14, וְֽאֶת־פַּתְרֻסִ֞ים Gen 10:14 and 1C 1:12, כְּֽהוֹצִיאָ֞ם Jos 10:24, וְֽכׇל־צוּרֹתָ֡ו Ez 43:11, כְּֽכׇל־הַ֠דָּבָ֠ר Jer 42:5, וְֽאֶת־הַצְּמִדִים֮ Gen 24:30, וְֽיָדַעְתָּ֮ Ez 35:12, אֲֽשֶׁר־לַצֵּלָ֛ע Ez 41:9, בְֽיַד־אִשָּׁ֔ה Jud 4:9, אֲֽשֶׁר־לַדְּבִ֖יר 1K 6:22, וְֽנָאוָ֔ה Song 1:5, וְֽרָאִ֔יתָ וְֽקָרָ֔אתָ Jer 51:61, שְֽׂאוּ־נֵ֔ס Is 13:2, צְֽאִי־לָ֞ךְ Song 1:8, וְֽ֠עֵינֶ֠יךָ Jer 34:3, וּֽבַבָּקָ֡ר 1C 12:41.

334

A special category of words which take gaʿya with shewa is formed by words of structure similar to the regular structure of words suitable for gaʿya on a closed syllable but which have a letter with shewa in place of the initial closed syllable, as מְקַטְּלִים and מְפַלְפְּלִים (like מִתְקַטְּלִים and מִתְפַּלְפְּלִים see #319). E.g.:

also מְפַעֲלִים (like מִתְפַּעֲלִים)

This gaʿya may also occur in forms like מְבָרְכִים (like מִתְבָּרְכִים which has regular structure, but not fully regular, see #322) as

Biblical references in this section: כְּֽשׇׁמְעֲךָ֞ 2S 5:24 and 1C 14:15, תְּֽשַׁלְּח֡וּ Jer 34:14, לְֽהַעֲל֞וֹת 1K 8:1 and elsewhere, וְֽהֶחֱזִ֡יקוּ Zech 8:23, בְּֽמַעֲלֵה֮ 2C 32:33, יְֽדַעֲנ֖וּךָ Hos 8:2, תְּֽתַעֲבֶ֖נּוּ Dt 7:26, לְֽבוֹא־חֲמָ֡ת Ez 48:1, וְֽהָ֨יְתָ֜ה Is 28:4 and elsewhere, וְֽיֹאמְר֞וּ Joel 2:17, וְֽהָלְכ֡וּ Zech 8:21, וְֽנָסְבָה֩ Ez 41:7.

335

The above describes gaʿya with shewa in words with disjunctive accents. This gaʿya also occurs occasionally in words with conjunctives, especially unusual combinations of conjunctives. E.g.:

where darga follows geresh, and is the second servus before revia, or

on a word (which is long and starts with shewa) which has merka as a servus to legarmeh.

Occasionally gaʿya with shewa is used in words with other conjunctives, as with

In the three poetic books there are a few cases of gaʿya with shewa within a word. E.g.:

Biblical references in this section: אא֨א אא֜א וְֽדָרַשְׁתִּ֧י אא֣א אא֗א Ez 34:10, אֲֽשֶׁר־ה֥וּא אא֣א׀ 2K 25:19, הֲֽמִבְּלִ֤י Ex 14:11 and elsewhere, וְֽחַלַּ֨ת Ex 29:23 and elsewhere, אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי Ps 1:1, וֶ֥אֱֽמוּנָתִ֣י Ps 89:25, יַ֥חְפְּֽשׂוּ Ps 64:7.

336

Gaʿya with shewa is regularly marked in early manuscripts. But the rules for it are described neither in early sources, nor even by Yequtiʾel ha-Naqdan. Heidenheim and Baer were the first to establish these rules. The pronunciation of shewa with gaʿya is described in the masoretic literature (as in the Diqduqe ha-Ṭeʿamim (Baer-Strack 1879, #11) — see also Morag, 1963, p. 160 ff.). They state that shewa at the start of a word was generally pronounced as a small pataḥ (פתחה קטנה) but that when it was marked with gaʿya it was pronounced like a full pataḥ (בפתחה גדולה תצא). Before gutturals, the shewa was pronounced as a short vowel of the same quality as the vowel sound after the guttural, but when it was marked with gaʿya it had the sound of a full vowel of that quality (thus בְּֽהֹנוֹת֩ would be pronounced with three ḥolem sounds). Shewa at the start of a word before yod was pronounced like a short ḥireq, but when marked with gaʿya, it was pronounced like a full ḥireq.

Biblical reference in this section: בְּֽהֹנוֹת֩ Jud 1:7.

Gaʿya on a Maqqef-closed, Long-vowelled Syllable

337

Gaʿya on a shewa-closed, long-vowelled syllable is covered in #326. Gaʿya may also be marked on a maqqef-closed, long-vowelled syllable. (By “maqqef-closed” we mean having, before a maqqef, what is referred to in #376 as a potential shewa.)

Gaʿya on a maqqef-closed, long-vowelled syllable can occur before either a disjunctive or a conjunctive accent.

This gaʿya is marked regularly in most printed texts, but in manuscripts it is usually marked only if the candidate syllable comes right before the stress syllable. E.g.:

If the candidate syllable is the second before the stress, gaʿya is usually not marked. E.g.:

If the candidate syllable is the third before the stress, gaʿya is more likely to be marked. E.g.:

In general the use of this gaʿya in the early manuscripts is more regular than the use of gaʿya on an open syllable, but less regular than the use of gaʿya on a closed syllable of the regular type. However, the regularity varies from manuscript to manuscript.

Biblical references in this section: אֵֽין־ל֗וֹ Hos 8:7, גָֽר־שָֽׁם׃ Jud 17:7, בֵּֽית־אֵ֖ל Jos 12:16, רֽוּץ־נָ֣א 2K 4:26, שֵׁם־יוֹסֵף֮ Gen 41:45, סוּר־מִמֶּ֖נּוּ Jos 23:6, בֵּית־דָּג֥וֹן Jos 15:41, בְּרִית־יְהֹוָה֙ Jos 3:3, אִֽישׁ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל Jos 9:7, קְצִֽיר־הַשְּׂעֹרִ֖ים Rut 2:23, שֵֽׁם־הַמָּק֥וֹם Jud 2:5 and elsewhere.

Gaʿya on a Closed, Ṣere-vowelled, Post-stress Syllable

338

Where a word ending in a closed syllable pointed with ṣere has its stress retracted, and the ṣere remains, it is marked by gaʿya (#308, 1c). E.g.:

This gaʿya is marked both in manuscripts and in printed texts.

Biblical references in this section: וַיָּ֣צֵֽץ צִ֔יץ Nu 17:23, עֹ֣רֵֽף כֶּ֔לֶב Is 66:3, מְבָ֣רֵֽךְ אָ֑וֶן Is 66:3, נָ֣בֵֽל צִ֔יץ Is 40:7, נָ֣בֵֽל צִ֑יץ Is 40:8.

The System of Preference for Musical Gaʿya

339

In early manuscripts, such as μA, μL, μC, two gaʿya s are only rarely marked on the same chanted word (simple word or maqqef compound). Where a chanted word could have more than one gaʿya, only one of them is generally marked. E.g., in the following two words, gaʿya is marked on the initial shewa but not on the open syllable that follows it:

In כׇּֽל־הַמַּחֲלָ֞ה , gaʿya is marked on the initial closed syllable, despite the fact that, given the word’s regular structure, we would expect gaʿya to marked on the closed syllable starting with he.

Conversely, in μA in וְאֶת־הַֽמִּזְבְּח֡וֹת , gaʿya is marked on the closed syllable we would expect, given the word’s regular structure. Gaʿya is not marked on the following two other candidate locations:

• On the initial closed syllable, on the alef.
• On the initial shewa.

(Gaʿya is marked on the initial shewa by bN.)

Biblical references in this section: בְּֽנוֹתֵיכֶ֞ם Ezra 9:12, אֲֽרַחֲמֶ֖נּוּ Jer 31:20 in some editions; others have it as 31:19, כׇּֽל־הַמַּחֲלָ֞ה Ex 15:26, וְאֶת־הַֽמִּזְבְּח֡וֹת 2K 23:12.

340

The choice of which of two or more gaʿya candidates should be marked on a word is determined by certain general principles, although these are affected by many detailed considerations which cannot be described here. The basic principle is that gaʿya on a closed syllable is preferred over gaʿya-OSR. E.g.:

Here gaʿya is marked on the initial closed syllable (of the regular type), but gaʿya is not marked on the open syllable that follows it (the syllable before the ḥaṭef ). So also

Here gaʿya is marked on the initial closed syllable of non-regular type, but gaʿya is not marked on the open syllable that follows it. This general principle is common to all the early manuscripts.

On the problem of preference in words which could have more than one gaʿya-OSR, see #328.

Biblical references in this section: וַֽיַּעֲל֗וּ Jud 18:12, הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֙לֶת֙ Jud 19:29, אֶֽל־הָאֲדָמָ֣ה׀ Dt 31:20, כׇּֽל־נְשִׂיאֵיהֶ֡ם Nu 17:21.

341

Consider a word which has both of the following candidate locations for gaʿya:

1. gaʿya on an open syllable
2. gaʿya on a maqqef-closed, long-vowelled syllable (#337)

The general rule in such a case is that if the closed syllable comes right before the stress syllable, gaʿya is marked on it. E.g.:

However, if this is not the case, the gaʿya on the open syllable is preferred. E.g.:

Footnotes for this section:

Biblical references in this section: הַעֽוֹד־לִ֤י Rut 1:11, לָנֽוּד־ל֖וֹ Job 2:11, הָֽעָם־הַזֶּ֖ה Is 8:11 and elsewhere, הַמְּלָֽכִים־הָ֠אֵ֠לֶּה Jos 11:12, גּֽוֹיִם־רַבִּ֣ים ‖ אא֡א Dt 7:1.

The Marking of Gaʿya in Manuscripts and Printed Texts

342

In early manuscripts, gaʿya on a closed syllable of regular or non-regular type, and gaʿya with shewa, are usually carefully and accurately marked. In some manuscripts this is also the case with gaʿya on a maqqef-closed, long-vowelled syllable. Manuscripts following this system show the following characteristics:

1. The system of marking these gaʿya s is generally consistent throughout the manuscript.
2. The system of marking these gaʿya s is similar in different manuscripts. That is, gaʿya is generally marked in the same position on the same word in nearly all manuscripts.
3. Variations involving gaʿya noted in lists of ḥillufim or in marginal notes in the manuscripts are almost solely concerned with gaʿya in these categories.

These characteristics show the importance to the Masoretes of gaʿya in these categories, as opposed to gaʿya-OSR. The lesser importance of gaʿya-OSR is also shown by the fact that

1. The system of marking gaʿya-OSR is not consistent in any single manuscript.
2. The early manuscripts do not share the same system for marking gaʿya in these categories, and they show no uniformity in the words on which gaʿya in these categories is marked.
3. Lists of ḥillufim are almost bare of examples of variants involving gaʿya in these categories.

343

In later manuscripts and in printed texts, a different system of marking gaʿya is used. In printed texts, gaʿya-OSR is generally consistently and systematically marked, but gaʿya on a closed syllable is marked only sporadically, or not at all.

344

This difference is reflected in the system of preference for marking gaʿya. If a word could have gaʿya both on a closed syllable and on an open syllable, that on the open syllable is marked in printed text, as וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֖ד whereas that on the closed syllable would be marked in early manuscripts, i.e. וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֖ד .

In a number of scholarly editions, such as those of Baer, Heidenheim, Qoren (Koren), and others, gaʿya is marked as completely as possible, so that both gaʿya s are marked in a word like וַֽיַּֽעֲמֹ֖ד . Similar usage is found in a number of manuscripts, as noted by Eliahu ha-Levi in his Ṭuv Ṭaʿam chapter 7:

When there is dagesh in the second letter of a word, and this letter is followed by א, ה, ח, or ע pointed with ḥaṭef pataḥ, then that word has two metheg s: one on the first letter (the principal metheg) and one on the letter before the guttural — but only if the word has a disjunctive accent, as וַֽיַּֽעֲמֹד and וַֽיַּֽעֲבֹד .

Biblical reference in this section: וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֖ד Ex 14:19.