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    Untitled Article

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    ON THE HEBREW POINTS.

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    Untitled Article

    THE MONTHLY REPOSITORY AND REVIEW .

    Untitled Article

    Points or certain marks above , below , or within the letters , are used in Hebrew for three purposes : 1 , as Vowels , or as guides to the pronunciation of vowels ; 2 , as modifying the pronunciation of Consonants , or intimating the omission of them ; and , 3 , as Stops and Accents . Some have

    maintained , that all these are parts of the original language , and have been preserved amongst the Jews from the time of Moses ; whilst others reject all of them , as not only of a comparatively modern date , but as often injuring the sense , and always increasing the difficulty , of the language . The earliest editions of the Hebrew Scriptures , and the greatest number of those which have been printed , follow the Biblia Hebraica Bombergiana which was printed at Venice 1525-6 , under the editorial care of the Rabbi Jacob Ben

    Chaim , " who had the reputation of being profoundly learned in the Masora and other branches of Jewish erudition , and who pointed the text according to the Masoretic system . " These Masorites , who were by some deemed the preservers or restorers , and by others the inventors , of this system , seem to have lived at Tiberias , on the lake of Gennesareth , where they had a College ; but their age has been much disputed . In the sixteenth century , Capellus called the antiquity of these points in question ; and he was supported by most of the eminent scholars of that time . The question was argued at great length , and though a few persons continue to

    maintain their antiquity and even their divine origin , yet the far greater number of learned men of all sects and parties seem to give up both of these , and to consider the points as a Masoretic invention , however they may differ about the time in which they were introduced , or the utility of their introduction . Admitting , then , that the points in the Hebrew Bible have no peculiar sanctity , that they may be in some cases erroneous , and that they may be

    fairly made the subject of critical investigation ; admitting , also , that they are a contrivance ot the grammarians or critics called Masorites , and neglecting for the present tjbe discussion at what time they were first used , and whether they were invented all at once or gradually , —what seems most deserving of consideration is , whether any circumstances recommend them to our notice ; that we may decide whether , as the study of the language seems increasing , it is desirable that young men should be instructed in them , or should apply themselves solely to the unpointed text .

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    NEW SERIES , No . II , FEBRUARY , 1827 .

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    vol . i . a

    On The Hebrew Points.

    ON THE HEBREW POINTS .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1827, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1793/page/1/