What do the symbols above some of the letters in the Hebrew text mean - e.g., there are open circles and dots (filled circles) and straight lines over some letters. I couldn't find a reference volume with a Key to explain these things.
Thanks!
No one knows?
I searched around myself ... was hoping to see an answer (if I remember right, the question was previously asked a while back but not on the DSS database).
Hey there,
I do not yet have this resource, though I have studied Hebrew. Perhaps what you are seeing are cantillation marks, used for ritual chanting. See the following article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantillation_marks
Hope this helps, Matt
I do not yet have this resource, though I have studied Hebrew. Perhaps what you are seeing are cantillation marks,
Forum Text comparison tool and language texts (eg Biblical DSS database) has some example screen captures of Dead Sea Scrolls using Logos 4 Text Comparison.
Apologies - have not found textual criticism apparatus explanation for Dead Sea Scrolls.
Wishing for apparatus appendix in: Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls: Bible Reference Index. 2011. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, Inc.
Keep Smiling [:)]
These marks do not appear to be cantillation marks. They are not listed anywhere in that Wikipedia article (but thanks for that reference, Matthew). I have no idea what they are either, but here's a better look at what Eric is talking about, in case someone else who doesn't have the resource recognizes these:
EDIT: Found a partial answer, from a page on the Biblical Archaeology Society website (http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=18&Issue=6&ArticleID=15):
The Hebrew text contains markings used by scholars to indicate the state of the original text. A lower-case c followed by a number, such as c4 in the first line, indicates the estimated number of letters lost in a missing section of a line. A filled-in circle above a letter indicates a damaged letter whose proposed reading seems almost certain; an open circle above a letter indicates a damaged letter whose proposed reading is uncertain. A period on the bottom of a line indicates the presence of an extremely damaged letter. Vacat indicates a space left empty by the scribe. The signs < and > on either side of a letter indicate that the letter had been written above the line by the scribe after he had detected a scribal error.
That had no mention of the horizontal line above a letter, but I did find this elsewhere (in Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel by Samuel Rolles Driver). It's not specifically about the DSS, but it might be the same mark used by scholars, however I'm not sure then what would be the difference between it and the circle above a letter.
Another possibility is this (from Hebrew: The Eternal Language by William Chomsky):
also see http://en.foursenses.net/textcriticismsigns
Perhaps Logos could add an introduction to the Biblical DSS Database similar to the one in the Qumran Sectarian Manuscripts Database:
What about those Leafs last night? Great shoot out? Just maybe a playoff birth yet??
The falling leaves drift by the window,The autumn leaves of red and gold.
What are the Leafs? A checker team? What has Athens to do with Jerusalem ?
