Verse Divisions Research Articles

Qur’anic readings and verse divisions in 18th-century Banten Qur’ans A.51, W.277 and RAS Arabic 4

ABSTRACT This article examines three Qur’ans that probably hail from 18th-century Banten. The first two, A.51 and W.277, are held in the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia, and the third of which, RAS Arabic 4, is part of the collection at the Royal Asiatic Society in the United Kingdom. It undertakes an analysis of the Qur’anic reading and verse numbering systems applied in these manuscripts, using selected samples from Sūrat al-Kahf to identify the textual relationships between these three Qur’ans. Examination of these three Qur’ans reveals variations in the ways in which each copy treats verse numbering and locates verse endings. On the basis of the textual analysis undertaken here, the author argues that the copyists of Qur’ans A.51, W.277 and RAS Arabic 4 appear to have applied to the respective text a combination of different methods that determined their approach to the reading and verse numbering systems. The Qur’anic textual transmission process is one in which the copyists referred to older copies but also relied on their own knowledge of qirāʾāt literature.

Dots, Versification and Grammar

Abstract The Syriac gospel of Matthew is divided into sentences by means of pausal accent dots, both single clause sentences and complex sentences. This article explores the relationship between these pausal accent dots and verse division, comparing the Syriac dotting system with Greek punctuation marks and Hebrew accents. All three traditions divide the text into larger and smaller sections. In the Hebrew Bible the smaller sections are often classified as verses that are further subdivided through cantillation marks, typically called accents. This article explains why the Syriac dots, also called accents, have a fundamentally different function than the Hebrew accents. It also explores the similarities between the Syriac dots and the Greek punctuation marks. The conclusion is that the “verse” is not a concept that can easily be applied to Syriac Bible manuscripts. Instead, the Syriac dots indicate different types of boundary tones, pauses associated with a specific pitch contour.

Additions of Conjunctive Vav (“and”) in 1QIsaa: Evidence for the Role of Language Processing Strategies

Abstract This article identifies one type of conjunctive vav (“and”) addition in 1QIsaa that accounts for over one-third of the 241 vav additions in the scroll. In these cases, vav serves to resolve structurally ambiguous verses in the biblical text of Isaiah. In 84 percent of the cases, vav resolves the ambiguous verses in a manner that accords with well-known language processing strategies. It is therefore argued that processing strategies were operative during the copying of 1QIsaa. Notably, more than half of vav additions that accord with processing strategies result in a verse division that differs from the MT’s reading tradition as recorded in its cantillation system. These findings offer a new perspective on the readings that are generated by vav additions when compared to the MT and also allow us to predict in which contexts this type of vav is likely to be found in other unpunctuated ancient texts.

Katagorisasi Ayat Makki Dan Madani: Pengertian, Ciri, Hikmah Dan Cara Mengetahui Makkiyah Dan Madaniyah

The Qur'an revealed to this world is a guide and a mercy to humans in this world, because the Qur'an is solely to help mankind as a guide for their life. People who read the Qur'anul Karim are expected not only to know how to read it but are also expected to be able to understand the contents of the content, therefore, the methodology of understanding the Qur'an needs to be known and studied in order to have more faith in the Qur'an. 'an is getting stronger. In terms of verse division, the scholars classify the verses in the Qur'an, there are differences in determining the verses and letters that were revealed in the city of Mecca and the verses that were revealed in the city of Medina so that they the scholars define Makkiyah and Madaniyah. Makkiyah is what was revealed in Mecca, even though it was revealed after the hijrah, Madaniyah is what was revealed in the city of Medina so that from this definition the word contains three elements, namely 1) Time, 2) Location and 3) The target of the verses and letters that were revealed. Place criteria as the basis for classification without considering its effect on the text in terms of content and form. In addition to the criteria above, there are other criteria that are used to distinguish between makki and civil.
 Keywords: Makki, Madani

Речевой портрет О. Мандельштама (К методике филологической оценки поэтического идиолекта)

The article develops an algorithm of philological evaluation of a poetic idiolect, determines the components of the language competence of its carrier; on this basis presents the speech portrait of O. Mandelstam in the context of modern Russian poetry. The study shows that the linguistic competence of the poetic idiolect carrier is represented by two components: 1) speech culture competence, the level of which is inversely dependent with respect to the number of a) the orthological ans stylistic mistakes made by them; b) their types and subtypes; 2) elocutive competence, the level of which is determined by the number of stylistic techniques used by them. The evaluation of the speech culture competence is possible on the basis of a general typology of speech errors; for this purpose, a list of typical for modern poetic speech errors and shortcomings is compiled: if these errors and shortcomings regularly appear in the author’s texts, this indicates that he has problems in this area. The proposed test allows to identify poets with impeccable cultural competence and those whose competence leaves much to be desired. The evaluation of the elocutive competence is made on the basis of the general typology of figures (including rhythmic ones) and semantic transfers. One of the most significant criteria for evaluating elocutive competence is an ability to produce new stylistic techniques and speech genres, i. e. its creative component, in this aspect O. Mandelstam appears as a creator of at least two speech genres that have become a familiar attribute of modern Russian poetry: 1) an acromonosyllabic verse with a terminal spondaic caesura; 2) a free dolnik formed through the procedure of secondary verse division.

Arabe 334a. A Vocalized Kufic Quran in a Non-canonical Hijazi Reading

Abstract This is a study of the Quranic manuscript Arabe 334a held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It is a vocalized manuscript representing a Quranic reading tradition that falls outside the canonical ten reading traditions known to us today. It is shown that this manuscript, on the basis of verse division, is a Hijazi (probably Medinan) manuscript. The reading represented in the vocalization is likely also a non-canonical Hijazi reading. This article contains an edition of the folios of this manuscript and an in-depth study of the orthography, vocalization, verse division, and general principles and specific variants of the reading.

The Qur'an of Johann Zechendorff: Features and Sources of the Arabic Text of Sūrat al-Kahf (Q. 18)

This article focuses on features and peculiarities of the Arabic text of Sūrat al-Kahf in Zechendorff's newly discovered Qur'an manuscript. Zechendorff's work is the result of his efforts to produce a faithful copy of a Muslim Qur'an manuscript, including the text and all the signs such as vocalisation and aids for recitation. On the whole, the sample analysed shows that he carried his work out with care, although some problems with the Qur'an's orthography led to some oversights and mistakes. Some of these are typical lapses in writing but a number of them can also be attributed to limits in knowledge. This is also evident in the case of the aids for recitation added above the line and of the verse divisions, the rules of which were a constant problem for European scholars who had no relevant literature at their disposal. Notwithstanding, Zechendorff's Arabic Qur'an is a significant scholarly achievement the defects of which are mainly due to the lack of sources.

Re-evaluating the Psalterium Sinaiticum: the Limitations of Internal Reconstruction as a Text-Critical Method

The Psalterium Sinaiticum, a Glagolitic manuscript containing an Old Church Slavonic version of the Book of Psalms, has usually been treated, since its discovery in the later nineteenth century, as representative of the translation made by SS Cyril and Methodius before 869. Yet its textual status is in two ways problematic: it exhibits a number of idiosyncratic features (verse divisions, headings, variant readings, lexical peculiarities) which set it apart from other Church Slavonic psalter manuscripts, even those which are generally referred to the same early redaction and Cyrillo-Methodian tradition; it displays marked internal inconsistencies for which there is no simple explanation, such as correlation with the various changes of scribal hand in the manuscript. Von Arnim used the distribution of these inconsistencies as evidence to support an internal reconstruction of several distinct stages in the manuscript tradition underlying the Psalterium Sinaiticum. His argumentation implies that in fact the text of this manuscript stands at some distance from the original translation of SS Cyril and Methodius. On the basis of new comparative evidence from the second Glagolitic psalter manuscript discovered on Sinai in 1975, this paper reviews von Arnim’s analysis and its effectiveness as a text-critical method, and draws conclusions about the place of the Psalterium Sinaiticum in the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition.

The Syriac Peshitta Bible with English Translation: John

The Syriac Peshitta Bible with English Translation: John

Habakkuk 3:10-11: In Defence of a Masoretic Unit Division

This short paper argues in defence of the Masoretic verse division of Habakkuk 3:10-11. It is argued that by interpreting the hapax rôm in v.10 as a by-form of the noun mārôm (rather than rûm as is usual), it is possible to preserve the logical and structural integrity of the verses without resorting to emendation. The validity of this interpretation is supported by the textual witnesses, which otherwise prove difficult to explain.

The Impact of Biblical Accents on English Translations of the Bible

The aim of this article is to find out whether English Bible translations are consistent with or in conflict with the understanding predicated by biblical accents. Twenty-one translations were chosen to focus on seven verses from the three poetical books, Psalms, Job, and Proverbs. Those verses can illuminate different aspects of the rules of verse division and the rules of the Ta‘amei Emet accentuation system. The few examples provide evidence that Bible translators, even of Jewish translations, did not pay great attention to the biblical accents.

The Verse Divisions of the New Testament and the Literary Culture of the Reformation

The numbered verses in Robert Estienne's 1551 Greek New Testament represent an extraordinary device in the history of reference technologies: the use of a single unit of discourse to organize an entire text. While this device departs from conventional systems of reference, earlier and later, it reflects the unique literary culture of the Reformation. This essay investigates contemporary strategies of academic reference in order to contextualize Estienne's verse divisions and show that they are neither natural nor arbitrary, but an artifact of humanist reading practices. Three strategies of academic reference are in focus: translating, lecturing and note taking, and quoting exemplary texts in dictionaries. Habits of reference to texts at the level of the enunciation illuminate the invention—and immediate popularity—of Estienne's verse divisions.

The Decalogue in the Light of a Newly Published Palaeo-Hebrew Inscription (Hebrew Ostracon Moussaieff No. 1)

On the basis of a newly published palaeo-Hebrew ostracon dating from the late seventh century BCE it is suggested that the Deuteronomic version of the Decalogue does not include references to divine commandments given earlier (Deut. 5.12, 'observe the sabbath day... as the Lord your God commanded you'; 5.16, 'honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you'). The relevant phrase introduces what follows and is to be rendered 'thus commands the Lord your God'. The Masoretic verse division of Deut. 5.12, 16 should be ignored in favor of this new interpretation.

Chapter and Verse Divisions in the Bible: Their Origins, and Their Use in Today's Common Language Translations

Chapter and Verse Divisions in the Bible: Their Origins, and Their Use in Today's Common Language Translations

The Prefect's Dilemma and the Date of theOctavia

The long-awaited publication of Otto Zwierlein's edition of Seneca's Tragedies provides a welcome opportunity to present a few observations on the penultimate scene of pseudo-Seneca'sOctavia(846–76).The scene in question features Nero quarrelling with his Guard Prefect over the fate of the Empress Octavia. In this altercation there are three textual points which have for long been in dispute. The first section of the article is concerned with these, favouring an emendation (858) discarded in the new Oxford edition, but questioning two of the verse divisions suggested (867b–868a) or adopted (870a) by Zwierlein.

A Translator's Nuisance: Chapter and Verse Division in the Bible

A Translator's Nuisance: Chapter and Verse Division in the Bible

The Question of Metre in Psalm I

For the purpose of this paper the text of Ps. i is being considered in terms of the merest sense-pattern, without regarding the verse divisions and without any metrical preconceptions. After all, every one of us is familiar with the opening footnote to the Psalter in KITTEL'S Bible, which briefly suggests that the metre of Ps. i is 'uncertain'. I have some notes which I took from the lectures of Professor