Fine Details of the Accents

Preface

This is a book on the fine details of the accents, composed by R. Aaron Ben Asher, from the place Ma‘aziah, which is called Tiberias, situated to the west of the Sea of Galilee. May God lay him to rest in peace and awaken him with those who are sleeping in the dust of the earth; they who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament [see Daniel 12:2–3] in the garden of Eden.

Part I: The Accents

Twelve marks like linear sources of light, some small and others high, threaded into the words, not concealed, sealed with intelligence in the mouths of the sagacious and the wise:

First is the tipḥah, which is stretched back, to be pronounced quickly, soon followed by an etnaḥtah.

Second is the negdah, written as though with a shaky hand; one learns to double its sound in the mouth.

Third is ma’arkhah, lengthened to link to the next word; it can tilt right or left, like a drawn arrow in appearance.

Fourth is tavra’, which drags the sound throughout scripture; the hand turns to render it clear, fixed into the letter like a beam.

Fifth is the zakef, more prominent than any other accent, like a specially raised finger.

Sixth is the misken; it lies underneath, shaped as two sticks, like a pauper bowing his head at the gate.

Seventh is talsha’, which doubles the sense, can face forward or backward, and drags out the accent when called upon.

Eighth is teres, pushed out with two fingers like a hoof, connected as with a hook, linked perfectly together.

Ninth is tsinori, preceded by an accent that points to its arrival; it gores like a lion bereaved.

Tenth is shofar; it enhances the appearance, gores like an ox and a bull; its pleasing sound cannot be broken.

Eleventh is pashtah, decorated through palate and tongue; it can be extended twice.

Twelfth is pazer, which rises and returns, dispersed by the tongue.

These are the twelve accents, filled with knowledge and instruction and lacking nothing, each bound to the other, like a king, mighty warrior, minister.

And the shofar ministers to many, ascending, bringing up, descending, and ascending.

These accents etched on the page have seven attendants:

First is azla’, which always ascends; second is revi‘a, which appears among the accents and shakes their sound.

Third is zakfah, small and truncated; fourth is ‘agalah, included in a circle (galgal).

Fifth is gershah, not separated from the other accents; sixth is mar‘am, unique among the accents in its noise and thunder.

Seventh is ga‘ya’, stationed alongside the other accents and counted as one of them.

This concludes the list of pleasant accents and their attendants; they are revealed and not obscured in the mouths of scribes and scholars; they are adjoined for ever and ever, performed in truth and wholeness [see Psalms 111:8]. Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who obtains understanding (Proverbs 3:13).

II: The Order of Scripture

The Torah is the first watch. The stories of the ancient ones and the events of their lives [i.e., Genesis] are part of the Torah. The repetition of the Torah [i.e., Deuteronomy] is part of the Torah. The conclusion of the Torah is part of the Torah.

The order of the Prophets is the middle watch. The completion of the Torah is like the giving of the Torah, and they teach its instructions like the Torah. Those who restore souls, envoys of faith, who stand in a tower above the people like the statutes of the Torah, each and every one of them spoke truth with his lips concerning his matters. In the middle watch, they sit in truth.

The order of the Writings is the last watch, a tradition of truth and a remembrance of earlier teachings.

Their names are indicative—Torah, Prophets, and Writings—written from the mouths of prophets, individual ones at their head, and the general group setting their boundaries.

This serves to teach that everything written, every expression, is considered as holy scripture—the vocalization and the hanging letters, and the small letters, large letters, and low letters, and the vowels, and the external marks, the closed and open passages, and those words that are written but not read, or read but not written, and disconnected letters. For they—in their portion, in the boundary, in their order, as they are taught, although they are numerous in name and type—they form a path for this arrangement in the chamber of the Holy of Holies, and the wise will understand the meaning here.