## Tractate Soferim Chapter 6

###### Tractate Soferim 6:1
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הכותב צריך לעשות שיעור בפתיחה של (במדבר י׳:ל״ה) ויהי בנסוע הארון מלמעלה ומלמטה שהוא ספר בפני עצמו וי"א שמקומו בנסיעת דגלים:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
A scribe must provide a distinguishing mark¹. for the section² beginning *And it came to pass when the ark set forward*,³ 35f. both at its beginning and at its end, because it is a book on its own. Others maintain that its proper place is in the section of the setting forward of the standards.⁴

footnotes:
¹ The traditional mark is an inverted nun
² So GRA. V reads ‘a prescribed space at the opening’.
³ Num. 10, 35. The section consists of the two verses, ibid.
⁴ Num. 2.


###### Tractate Soferim 6:2
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(הכותב צריך לעשות שיעור בפתיחה של ויהי העם כמתאוננים מלמעלה ומלמטה שהוא ספר בפני עצמו וי"א שמקומו בנסיעת דגלים):

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
⁵ X, 35f, is followed by the beginning of *And the people were as murmurers* (*ibid.* XI, 1); and partly incorrect since no mark is inserted at the end of the latter section. The entire Rule is to be deleted according to GRA. The scribe must leave a prescribed space at the opening of the section which begins *And the people were as murmurers;*⁶ XI, 1. [and not only] at its beginning [but also] at its end, because it is a book on its own. Others hold that its proper place is in the section of the setting forward of the standards.

footnotes:
⁵ This Rule is partly a repetition of the preceding, since the end of the section, ibid.
⁶ ibid.


###### Tractate Soferim 6:3
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עשר נקודות בתורה (בראשית ט״ז:ה׳) ישפוט ה׳ ביני וביניך יו"ד שביניך נקוד (שם יח) ויאמרו אליו אי"ו נקוד (שם יט) ולא ידע בשכבה ובקומה וי"ו נקוד שבקומה (שם לג) ויפול על צוארו וישקהו כולו נקוד (שם לז) וילכו אחיו לרעות את צאן אביהם את נקוד (במדבר ג׳:ל״ט) אשר פקד משה ואהרן אהרן נקוד (שם ט) או בדרך רחוקה ה"י נקוד (שם כא) ונשים עד נפח אשר רי"ש נקוד (שם כט) ועשרון עשרון שבחג בי"ט הראשון וי"ו שבעשרון השני נקוד (דברים כ״ט:כ״ח) הנסתרות [לה׳ אלהינו] והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם עיין שבעד נקוד:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Ten [letters or groups of letters] in the Torah are marked by dots:⁷ In *the Lord judge between me and thee*⁸ there is a dot on the *beth*⁹’. of *ubeneka* (and between thee). In *and they said unto him*,¹⁰ XVIII, 9. there are dots on *alef-yod-waw* of *’elaw* (unto him). In *and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose*,¹¹ XIX, 33. the [second] *waw* in *ubekumah* (nor when she arose) is marked with a dot. In *and kissed him*,¹² XXXIII, 4. the entire word *wayyishshaḳehu* is marked by dots. In *and his brethren went to feed their father’s flock*,¹³ XXXVII, 12. the letters of *’eth* (the mark of the defined accusative) are dotted. In *whom Moses and Aaron numbered*¹⁴ the word *Aaron* is marked with dots. In *or be in a journey afar off*,¹⁵ IX, 10. the *he* in *reḥoḳah* (afar off) has a dot. In *and we have laid waste even unto Nopha, which*¹⁶ XXI, 30. the *resh* in *’asher* (which) has a dot. In *and a several tenth part*,¹⁷ XXIX, 15. in the section dealing with the first day of the festival of Tabernacles, the second *waw* in *we’issaron* (and a tenth part) has a dot. In *the secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for* ever,¹⁸ in עד’. Cf. Sanh. 43b (Sonc. ed., p. 285, n. 4) and ARN above, p. 166.] the *‘ayin* in *‘ad* (for) has a dot.

footnotes:
⁷ The dots are placed above the letters. Cf. above, ARN XXXIV, p. 165 where the Rabbinical explanations are given.
⁸ Gen. 16, 5.
⁹ So GRA. V and H ‘the yod
¹⁰ ibid.
¹¹ ibid.
¹² ibid.
¹³ ibid.
¹⁴ Num. 3, 39.
¹⁵ ibid.
¹⁶ ibid.
¹⁷ ibid.
¹⁸ Deut. 29, 28. [H more correctly, ‘unto us and to our children and the ‘ayin


###### Tractate Soferim 6:4
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א"ר שמעון בן לקיש שלשה ספרים נמצאו בעזרה ספר מעונה ספר זאטוטי ספר היא באחד מצאו כתוב מעון ובשנים כתוב מעונה אלהי קדם (שם לג) וקיימו שנים ובטלו אחד באחד מצאו כתוב וישלח אל זאטוטי בני ישראל ובשנים מצאו כתוב וישלח את נערי בני ישראל (שמות כ״ד:ה׳) וקיימו שנים ובטלו א׳ באחד כתוב אחד עשר הוא ובשנים מצאו כתוב אחד עשר היא וקיימו שנים ובטלו אחד:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
R. Simeon b. Laḳish said: Three scrolls of the Torah were found in the Temple court:¹⁹ the *Ma‘on*²⁰ scroll, the *Za’aṭuṭë* scroll, and the *Hu’* scroll. In one of these they found the expression of *ma‘on*,²¹ and in the other two it was written, *The eternal God is me‘onah*²² (a dwelling place), so they adopted the reading of the two scrolls and discarded that of the one scroll. In another of the scrolls they found it written, *And he sent the za‘aṭuṭë* (nobles) *of the children of Israel*,²³ and in the other two they found written *And he sent na‘arë* (the young men of) *the children of Israel*, so they retained the reading of the two and abandoned that of the one. In one of the scrolls *hu*’²⁴, third person fem. sing. pronoun. was written eleven times, but in the other two *hi*’²⁵ was written eleven times, so they adopted the reading of the two and discarded that of the one.

footnotes:
¹⁹ Presumably when the text of Scripture was about to be fixed.
²⁰ So GRA. V has מענה. This and the following two names were derived from the peculiar word which distinguished each scroll.
²¹ Meaning ‘dwelling place’, the noun being in the masculine form.
²² Deut. 33, 27, the same noun in the feminine.
²³ Ex. 24, 5.
²⁴ The third person sing. masc. which is used in the Pentateuch for hi’
²⁵ The correct feminine form, being exceptions to the usual written form. A list of these is given in ARN XXXIV, above p. 167.


###### Tractate Soferim 6:5
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שלשה לא כותבים בלמ"ד אל"ף וקוראים בלמ"ד וי"ו ואלו הן אשר לא כרעים ממעל לרגליו (ויקרא י״א:כ״א) אשר לא חומה (שם כה) אשר לא (יגיד) [יעדה] (שמות כא):

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Three expressions of *lo’* are written *lamed-alef*²⁶ but read as *lamed-waw*.²⁷ They are: *’asher lo’*²⁸ *jointed legs above their feet;*²⁹ *’asher lo’ ḥomah;*³⁰ XXV, 30, *lamed-alef*, meaning ‘which has no wall’ but read as *lamed-waw* ‘which has a wall’. E.V. *in a walled city*. and *’asher lo’ ye‘adah*.³¹ means ‘who hath not espoused her’, but the reading with *lamed-waw* means, as E.V., *who hath espoused her to himself*.

footnotes:
²⁶ Meaning ‘not’.
²⁷ Which means ‘to him, has’.
²⁸ לא, lit. ‘which not’ but read לו ‘which has’.
²⁹ Lev. 11, 21.
³⁰ ibid.
³¹ Ex. 21, 8. The written form with lamed-alef


###### Tractate Soferim 6:6
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ואלו הן של נביאים ושל כתובים תרבו חושי אמר (לו) הרבית צרתם יקטלני אחריש כצפור מרעהו זרובבל יצרו דעו יאסף שם ודברו:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
The following [occurrences of *lamed-alef* (not)] which have to be read as *lamed-waw* (to, by, has) are found in the Prophets and Hagiographa: *multiply;*³² according to the *ḳerë*, but the *kethib* reads ‘and actions are not weighed’. *Hushai;*³³ is *his will I be* and the *kethib* ‘I will not be’. *said;*³⁴ is *say unto him, thou shalt surely recover*, and the *kethib* ‘say, thou shalt not surely recover’. *thou hast multiplied;*³⁵ is *Thou hast increased their joy*, and the *kethib* ‘Thou hast not increased joy’. *their affliction;*³⁶ is *In all their affliction He was afflicted* (lit. there was affliction to Him) and the *kethib* ‘in all their affliction He was not an adversary’. *He slay me;*³⁷ is *yet will I trust Him*, the *kethib* ‘I have nothing to hope for’. *I keep silence;*³⁸ is *would I keep silence* (to him), the *kethib* ‘I would not keep silence’. *as the* (*wandering*) *sparrow;*³⁹ is *shall come home* (to him), the *kethib* ‘shall not come home’. *his friends;*⁴⁰ is *they turn against him*, the *kethib* ‘they do not turn’. *Zerubbabel;*⁴¹ is *we do sacrifice unto Him*, the *kethib* ‘we do not sacrifice’. *were fashioned;*⁴² is ‘and for it there was one among them’, the *kethib when as yet there was none of them*. In this instance E.V. follows the *kethib*. *know ye;*⁴³ is *we are His*, the *kethib* ‘and not we (have made) ourselves’. *be gathered;*⁴⁴ is *be gathered unto Him*, the *kethib* ‘be not gathered’. *name*,⁴⁵ is *and had a name among the three*, the *kethib* ‘and not a name among the three’. [this last also] in the corresponding passage.⁴⁶ is both written and read. [More probably ודבר in V is a misreading of *daleth* signifying ‘four’ which should be attached to the beginning of the next Rule.] [38*a*]

footnotes:
³² The introductory word of 1 Sam. 2, 3 in which occurs the phrase and by Him are actions weighed
³³ i.e. 2 Sam. 16, 18, where the ḳerë
³⁴ i.e. 2 Kings 8, 10. Here the ḳerë
³⁵ i.e. Isa. 9, 2.The ḳerë
³⁶ i.e. Isa. 63, 9. The ḳerë
³⁷ i.e. Job 13, 15. The ḳerë
³⁸ i.e. Job 41, 4. The ḳerë
³⁹ i.e. Prov. 26, 2. The ḳerë
⁴⁰ i.e. Prov. 19, 7. The ḳerë
⁴¹ i.e. Ezra 4, 2, The ḳerë
⁴² i.e. Ps. 139, 16. The ḳerë
⁴³ i.e. Ps. 100, 3. The ḳerë
⁴⁴ i.e. Isa. 49, 5. The ḳerë
⁴⁵ i.e. 1 Chron. 11, 20. The ḳerë
⁴⁶ viz. in 2 Sam. 23, 18. This reading is suggested by N.Y. to replace that of V ‘and his word’ which is meaningless. In this verse, however, lamed-waw


###### Tractate Soferim 6:7
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ענאל יניאל ובגרעון אלישמע השוטר:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
⁴⁷ Four [occurrences of the name] Jeuel are to be read Jeiel; viz. *and in Gibeon*,⁴⁸ *the Ashterathite*,⁴⁹ XI, 44. *the scribe*,⁵⁰ [*and of the sons of*] *Elizaphon*.⁵¹ XXIX, 13.

footnotes:
⁴⁷ [V is unintelligible and the reading of H has been adopted.]
⁴⁸ i.e. in 1 Chron. 9, 35.
⁴⁹ ibid.
⁵⁰ 2 Chron. 26, 11.
⁵¹ ibid.


###### Tractate Soferim 6:8
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אלו קוראין ולא כותבין בני. פרת. איש. בן. בניו. צבאות. באים. (לא) [לה]. אלי. אלי:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
The following words are to be read but are not written [in the text]: *the children of;*⁵² *Euphrates;*⁵³ *man;*⁵⁴ *as;*⁵⁵ XVIII, 20. V incorrectly בן for כן. *his sons;*⁵⁶ *of hosts;*⁵⁷ 31. *come;*⁵⁸ *thereof;*⁵⁹ for *lah*. *unto me;*⁶⁰ *to me*.⁶¹ 17.

footnotes:
⁵² In Judg. 20, 13.
⁵³ In 2 Sam. 8, 3.
⁵⁴ In 2 Sam. 16, 23.
⁵⁵ ibid.
⁵⁶ 2 Kings 19, 37.
⁵⁷ ibid.
⁵⁸ In Jer. 31, 38 (some edd. 37).
⁵⁹ In Jer. 50, 29. V incorrectly lo’
⁶⁰ In Ruth 3, 5.
⁶¹ ibid.


###### Tractate Soferim 6:9
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וחילוף כתובים ולא קוראים אמנון. באשר. במקום. גואל. ידרך. חמש:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
[With the following] it is the reverse;⁶² they are written [in the text] but are not to be read: *Amnon;*⁶³ is written but not to be read. *as he shall say;*⁶⁴ is written but not read. V incorrectly indicates the verse with *ba’asher* for *ka’asher*. *in* (*what*) *place;*⁶⁵ *kinsman;*⁶⁶ is written but not read. *let … bend;*⁶⁷ *five*.⁶⁸ the number *five* is written twice but read only once. [H adds two further instances: נא in 2 Kings 5, 18 and *’eth* in Jer. 38, 16.]

footnotes:
⁶² Of those mentioned in the preceding Rule. The former are to be read but are not written; the latter are written but are not to be read.
⁶³ In 2 Sam. 13, 33 the word ’im
⁶⁴ In Jer. 39, 12 where similarly, ’im
⁶⁵ In 2 Sam. 15, 21 the word אם is written but not read.
⁶⁶ In Ruth 3, 12, the word ’im
⁶⁷ In Jer. 51, 3 the verb is repeated in the text.
⁶⁸ In Ezek. 48, 16 the south side … five hundred