Accordance

The Ethnachta Clause

While reading along in The Art of Torah Cantillation (link) one stumbles upon the claim ( page 13) that one is encountering a list of the five of the most common variations of the etnachta clause (or clauses ending with the ‘enachta’ cantillation mark) in the Torah/Pentateuch.

The first pattern of the clause given on page 13 is:
‘Mercha, Tipcha, Munach, Etnachta’

You might wonder just how common the above pattern is and should you spend your time committing this pattern to memory or not? Great question but how does one go about answering such a question. In time past you would need to simply trust the authors’ judgment, scan through the Bible counting count all the patterns, or consult a concordance of the accents. Today, however, there are two currently available commercial software programs Accordance and now Logos as of 2019) that are capable of running searches on the cantillation marks and their patterns and there used to be a third program (BibleWorks) but it is no longer available for purchase.

While the three programs mentioned above are capable of running such queries Accordance Bible Software is my program of choice for the following reasons:

(1) Searches in Accordance are visually intuitive and quick to set up. You simply open the ‘character keyboard’ and click on the accent or accent marks you want to search on. No need for codes or esoteric program like language to run searches. The first program I used to run such searches BibleWorks required me to type in codes for each accent on the command line making searches time and energy-consuming to set up. At the time I was very thankful to be able to run such searches. Then when I tried Accordance and it was like a breath of fresh air there was no turning back.

(2) budget-friendly. If you already have a Hebrew text in Accordance you can run accent searches. No need to buy extra modules, database or dataset to run searches.

(3) bugless, glitchless, and almost error-free. Because Accordance was the first program to implement accents searches (back in 2003 with verse 6) they have had the time to work out almost all the issues over the years.
The Interface. Okay, I know this is very subjective! But I find the interface to be so intuitive that not only does it not get in my way, I almost completely forget about the interface while using the program.

Now, back to the question:

How common is the accent pattern: Mercha, Tipcha, Munach, Etnachta’ ?

in Accordance, the names are slightly different Merka, Tiphah, Munah, Atnah but it doesn’t matter as one does not need to type in the names all one needs to do is right-click on the visual representation of the accent(s) one desires to search on.

In Accordance Bible Software version 13 one would first need to open the program and a Hebrew Text of course. Then they would need to click on ‘Window‘ on the ‘menu bar‘ and on the drop-down menu select the option Characters.

After which the ‘Character Keyboard‘ (formerly known as the Character palette ) should appear.

Then in the search entry area simply type in a period before each clicking on each accent you would like to run a search on. (The period acts as a wildcard or place holder for a character in this search). If one is searching for an accent clause or pattern one needs to click the space bar between each period accent combination.

Then hit the enter button to run the search.

This search returned with 395 verses.

את אשר followed by a phrase/Verbal Predicate

According to Eep Talstra’s ETCBC database In the BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia) there are a total of 62 occurrences where:

x-Qatal clauses
in which Conjunctive phrases
with Et asher are followed by a phrase, labelled verbal Predicate

Genesis 9:24
Genesis 18:19
Genesis 27:45
Genesis 28:15
Exodus 10:2
Leviticus 9:5
Numbers 32:31
Numbers 33:4
Deuteronomy 4:3
Deuteronomy 7:18
Deuteronomy 9:7
Deuteronomy 24:9
Deuteronomy 25:17
Deuteronomy 29:15
Joshua 2:10
Joshua 5:1
Joshua 9:3
Joshua 9:24
Joshua 24:7
Judges 14:6
Judges 18:27
1 Samuel 12:24
1 Samuel 15:2
1 Samuel 15:16
1 Samuel 16:4
1 Samuel 25:35
1 Samuel 28:9
1 Samuel 30:23
1 Samuel 31:11
2 Samuel 19:20
2 Samuel 19:38
2 Samuel 21:11
1 Kings 2:5
1 Kings 5:22
1 Kings 8:24
1 Kings 8:25
1 Kings 11:10
1 Kings 18:13
2 Kings 5:20
2 Kings 7:12
2 Kings 8:5
2 Kings 10:10
2 Kings 19:11
2 Kings 20:3
Isaiah 38:3
Isaiah 55:11
Jeremiah 7:12
Jeremiah 23:25
Jeremiah 38:9
Jeremiah 45:4
Jeremiah 51:12
Ezekiel 23:22
Zechariah 12:10
Ruth 2:17
Ruth 2:18
Ruth 2:19
Esther 9:23
1 Chronicles 4:10
2 Chronicles 6:15
2 Chronicles 6:16

Accordance 12

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The Masora Thesaurus (part two)

I originally posted the following as a series of replies on the Accordance forums in December of 2015.

The printed BHS only contains the Masora Parva, Masora finalis (and a highly edited form of that). Also. The editors of the BHS put theMasora Magna in a separate volume that is now out of print (although a digital edition of that does exist).

The Masorah Thesaurus has so much more. It has the unedited Masorah Parva, the Masorah Magna of the Leningrad Codex(and other sources, too), as well cross references to other Masoretic list, notations, and texts (as well as more). The Masorah Thesaurus is of course searchable in ways that neither the print edition of the BHS nor the digital edition of Gerard E. Weil’s Massorah Gedolah: Manuscrit B. 19a de Léningrad are.

In a printed edition of the BHS we turn to page one or to Genesis 1:1. Now, we notice the raised circle above בְּרֵאשִׁית . That circle in our printed BHS alerts us to the marginal notes called Masora Parva. To better illustrate what has just been said take a look at the following:

In the photo (or in the BHS) we notice that the fist letter of the note is the fifth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet ה̇. We, also notice that the ה̇is has a small dot over it. When we see a dot over a letter that often tells us that the letter is meant to be read as a number. In this case, we read is as telling us that there are five occurrences of the word בְּרֵאשִׁית in the text of the Tanach/Hebrew Bible.

We, also notice that there are two other Hebrew letters in the note with dots; both ג̇ and ב̇ followed by abbreviations or shorthand notes. ג̇ being the third letter of the alphabet represent 3, and ב̇ being the second letter represents two (2 plus 3 is, of course, five). So, the Masora tells us that בְּרֵאשִׁיתstarts a stanza(ר״פ) three times (ג̇) , and is embedded in a stanza ( מ״פ) two times(ב̇).

This may help us understand the above abbreviations:

(Within, inside) מ = מצעא

(Head, start) רֹ =ראש

(verse/Stanza) פ = פסוקֹ, פסֹ, פסוֹ

Sometimes (or at least I have seen some use) קֹ in place of פסוקֹ

However, since the Masora Parva is brief it does not list those occurrences mentioned above. Before the advent of the Masorah Thesaurus that we would need to run a quick Accordance search, check out a paper concordance, or wade through Masoretic lists to find all of the occurrences mention in the BHS’ Masora Parva.

The Masora Magna Register at the bottom of the printed BHS, however, does indicate where we can (or could in past time) quickly locate the list in Weil’s Massorah Gedolah.

Unfortunately, the Massorah Gedolah is out of print, but as mention, before there is a digital version of it in another software platform. Before I got access to the Masorah Thesaurus module I, will admit, I used to use the digital version of Weil’s Massorah Gedolah a fair bit and it still has its place. However, the Masorah Thesaurus module offers much more than what Weil’s Massorah Gedolah does.

Now, turn to Genesis 43:8 in a printed edition of the BHS (page 71). Let’s look at a rather famous example:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוּדָ֜ה אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל אָבִ֗יו שִׁלְחָ֥ה הַנַּ֛עַר אִתִּ֖י וְנָק֣וּמָה וְנֵלֵ֑כָה וְנִֽחְיֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א נָמ֔וּת גַּם־אֲנַ֥חְנוּ גַם־אַתָּ֖הגַּם־טַפֵּֽנוּ׃

Take a look at the Masora Parva note for Genesis 43:8 : י̇ב̇ פסוק̇ גם גם גם

י̇ב̇ = 12

Verses =פסוק̇

גם גם גם = a construction/string גם

The meaning = There are 12 verses in the Tanach where גם occurs three times.

The Mm register for Genesis 43:8 only has Mm index numbers for the following words:

שִׁלְחָה= Mm index number 2915

וְנָקוּמָה = Mm Index number 3078

In other words neither the BHS nor it’s companion volume Weil’s Masorah Gedolah can help you in finding the list or references for the 12 occurrences of the גם גם גם construction.

Also, in this case, a paper concordance will be of little help since

גם appears something like 769 times in the Tanach/Hebrew Bible.

Click Searching on גם will similarly not help you much.

(However, Accordance’s construction search can find examples of the structure and depending on how many intervening word you selected between each of the גם your results will vary).

However, Since we have the Masorah Thesaurus we can easily find everything the Masora Parva note of the BHS was alluding to:

(1) Open the Masorah Thesaurus

(2) Open the Table contents

(3) Type in גם and search

(4) Now, we will find the information we wanted to know at:

Paragraph 43839 of 188291

Paragraph 43844 of 188291

Paragraph 43850 of 188291

As we can see there simply isn’t enough space in the printed/paper BHS to provide that type of detailed information for every MasorParvava note. This one reason (there are many more) why the Masorah Thesaurus is indispensable for Masoretic studies.

The Masorah Thesaurus

Yet, another reason to get excited about Accordance for Windows and the original Mac OS version as well! Accordance has just released the first part of the Masora Thesaurus. When completed this encyclopedic like volume will contain the complete text of the Masorah Gedolah, Masorah Ketanah, and the Masorah Finalis of the oldest complete codex of the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh known as the Leningrad Codex B19a. This work will also include 30 years worth of Aron Dotan’s notes on the Masora. Aron Dotan is chair of the International Organization for Masoretic Studies and editor of the Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia. Now, this begs the question of what is the Masora?

The term Masorah is ordinarily used in modern biblical studies to refer to the body of marginal notes (i.e., Masoretic notes) which are transmitted with the text, either in a manuscript or in a printed edition. However, this is the narrow sense of the word. In its broadest sense, Masorah refers to traditions and rules, passed down in Judaism for generations, which regulate all aspects of the copying and use of Bible manuscripts…
The Masorah can be divided into several subdivisions. The Masorah Parva (Mp) consists of the Masoretic notes in the side margins of manuscripts (cf. BHS). The Masorah Magna (Mm) includes the notes in the upper and lower margins of the manuscripts…
The Masorah Finalis (Mf) refers to the material collected at the end of a particular book, section (e.g., Torah) or manuscript. In manuscripts, the Mf consists of summary lists, such as the number of verses, sedarim, etc., and information of this type is included in BHS at the end of books.

Kelley, Page H., Daniel S. Mynatt, and Timothy G. Crawford. The Masorah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Introduction and Annotated Glossary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.

The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) the longtime popular edition of the Hebrew Bible. only contains the Masora Parva, Masora finalis (and a highly edited form of that). The Masora not unlike the anotations one finds in a reference Bible. However the Masora goes futher noteing issues like grammar, syntax, spelling, unsual/rare words, word counts, and even typo graphy. The editors of the BHS put the Masora Magna in a separate volume that is now out of print (although a digital edition of that does exist) and hard to find. Now, for the first time since the Leningrad Codex was discovered it’s entire Masora is being made available to the public thanks to Oak Tree, Accordance Bible Software!

Enter Accordance Bible Software‘s Marorah Thesaurus database.

The Masorah Thesaurus has so much more than the printed Masora Magna of the BHS. Accordance database has the unedited Masorah Parva, the Masorah Magna of the Leningrad Codex(AND other Manuscritpt, too), as well cross-references to other Masoretic lists, notations, and texts (as well as much more). Accordance digital Masorah Thesaurus database is, of course, searchable in ways that neither the print edition of the BHS nor the standard digital edition of Gerard E. Weil’s Massorah Gedolah: Manuscrit B. 19a de Léningrad are.

So, that we can better appreciate the Masorah Thesaurus let’s first take a quick look at what the printed BHS offers.

In a printed edition of the BHS we turn to page one or to Genesis 1:1. Now, we notice the raised circle above בְּרֵאשִׁית . That circle in our printed BHS alerts us to the marginal notes called Masora Parva. To better illiterate what has just been said take a look at the following screenshot:

In the photo above (or in the BHS) we notice that the frist letter of the note is the fifth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet ה̇. We, also notice that the ה̇ is has a small dot over it. When we see a dot over a letter that often tells us that the letter is meant to be read as a number. In this case, we read is as telling us that there are five occurrences of the word בְּרֵאשִׁית in the text of the Tanach/Hebrew Bible.

We, also notice that there are two other Hebrew letters in the note with dots; both ג̇ and ב̇ followed by abbreviations or short hand notes. ג̇ being the third letter of the alphabet represent 3, and ב̇ being the second letter represents two (2 plus 3 is of course five). So, the Masora tells us that בְּרֵאשִׁית starts a stanza(ר״פ) three times (ג̇) , and is embedded in a stanza ( מ״פ) two times(ב̇).

This may help us understand the above abbreviations:

(Within, inside) מ = מצעא

(Head, start) רֹ =ראש

(verse/Stanza) פ = פסוקֹ, פסֹ, פסוֹ

Sometimes (or at least I have seen some use) קֹ in place of פסוקֹ

However, since the Masora parva is brief it does not list those occurrences mentioned above. Before the advent of the Masorah Thesaurus that we would need to run a quick Accordance search, checkout a paper concordance, or wade through Masoretic lists to find all of the occurrences mention in the BHS’ Masora Parva. The Masora Magna Register at the bottom of the printed BHS, however, does indicate where we can (or could in past time) quickly locate the list in Weil’s Massorah Gedolah. See:

Unfortunately, Weil’s Massorah Gedolah is out of print, but as mention before there is a digital version of it in another software platform for 99.99USD. However as Accordance Bible Software Masora Thesaurus just about the same at 99.09 it is arguable the better deal because it contain so much more value for the buck.