Psa. xxvii, 13, xBlB. Berakoth, fol. 4, col. 1, says, "Lord of the universe, I am aware that thou great- ly rewardest the just in future ages, but I know not whether I shall partake of it with them on account of my sin." Buxtorf re- marks on this passage, Q"!: N33 D";3, i.e. a sense without any sense. The meaning probably is th.it Xsib, without the points, means if iint, like the Latin nini, but with the points it signifies "a doubt."
As to the oriftin and signitication of these points, noth- ing certain can be said. According to the rabbins, Ezra is said to have been the author of them (comp. Ba-mid- bar Rdhbuh on Numb, iii, 39, sect, iii, fol. 21.5, col. 4; A hiith de-Eahhi Nathan, ch. xxxiii). This much may be taken for granted, that these points were known long before the Talmud.
14. Inverted Nun, C- — Before Numb, x, 35, and after ver. 36, we find in our Hebrew text the letter A';/n, 5. inverted (c). In theTalmud, Shahbafh, UA. 115, col. 2; fol. 116, col. 1, we are told that " the section commencing
n'::'^ nrxii "pxn roDn inii (Numb, x, 35) was
made by God with signs below and above, to indicate that it is not in its proper place. But Rabbi said this is not so, but that this book was counted by itself. How do you know it? B.Samuel liar-Nachman said, L*. Jonathan saith (it is written) 'She hath hewn out her seven pillars' (Brov. ix, 1) ; this means the seven books of the law." On the inverted A';/??.? found in Bsa. cvii, mention is made in Rnsh Ilush-shanah, fol. 17, col. 2.
15. The Vav Ketid in Numb, xxv, 12 Of this I'^l
XS'^Up, or Fai" cut-ojf, which is found in our Hebrew Bi- l)le "^j we read in the Talmud, Kidduskin, fol. 66, col. 2 : " Whence do we have it that a person having some de- fect is unfit for the sacred ministry? K. .lehudah said that B.Samuel taught that this is because the Scripture says, ' Wherefore say. Behold I give unto him my cove- nant of peace' — a perfect peace, and not an imperfect
one. But, said one, it is written DlbiT, i. e. peace ; but answered R. Nachman, the Vav in DICif is cut oft" (^"I'^l
x^^n nyi:;p cibTin).
16. The Closed or Final Mem (C) in the middle of the word Isa. ix, 6, n2"icb.— In the Talmud, Sanhedrin, ful. 94, col. 2, we tind the follow ing :
"Why is It that all the Memx in the middle of a word are open (i. e. 13) and this one closed (i. e. D)? The Holy One (ble.-^sed be he) wanted to make Hezekiah the Mes- siah, and Sennacherib Gog and Magog; whereupon Jus- tice pleaded before the presence of the Holy One, Loid of the world, ' What ! David, the king of Isiael, who sang so many hymns and praises before thee, w'ilt Ihou not make him the Messiah 1 But Ilezekiah, for wliom thou hast performed all the miracles, and who has not utteied one song before thee, wilt thou make him the Messiah ?' Therefore has the Metn been closed."
17. Suspended Letters. — The suspended Nun we find in rrC'C, Judg. xviii, 30. The Talmud, Buba Bathra, fol. 109, col. 2, states the following :
"Was he (i. e. Gershom) the son of Manasseh? while the Scripture says the sons of Moses were Eleazar and Gershom. But because he did the deeds of IManasseh (2 Kings xxi), did the Scripture apiiend him to the (family) of Manasseh." Tiie meaning is that the prophet did not like to call Gershom the son of Moses, because it would be ignominious that Moses should have had an impious sou ; hence he called him the son of M^masseh, with the suspended letter, which may mean the son of Manasseh or Moses.
The suspended Ayin is found in d'l'* 0"i, Job xxxviii. 15. In the Talmud, Sanhedrin, fol. 103, col. 2, we read the following : " Why is the S in n^"C"i suspended ? It is to teach that when a man is "C^, poor, in this world, he will also be TiJ"l in the world to come; or, literally, poor below, he will also be poor above."
Of the suspended Aj/in in "l'''i'2, Psa. Ixxx, 14, we read, Kidduskin, fol. 30, col. 2, that this letter is the mid- dle letter in the Psalms.
18. Majuscular and Mimiscular T^etters. — Of words written with large and small letters in our Hebrew Bi- ble we find nothing in the Talmud, but some of these instances are mentioned in the Sopherim, ch. ix. That this mode of writing must have been very ancient can- not be doubted, for there is a dispute in the Talmud, Merjillah, f(d. 16, col. 2, whether the 1 in NHTil (Estli. ix, 9) should be written as a maju.scular or minuscnlar letter; and the word Plbsmi (Lev. xiii, 33), which is now written with a majuscular 5, is mentioned in Kid- dushin, fol. 30, col. 2, as being the middle of the verses of the Pentateuch.
19. Mode of Quotations. See Quotations of the Old Testament in tiie Talmud. (B. P.)
Talnincli.sts. Under this head we include all those rabbins whose opinions are regarded as authoritative in the Talmud. The period of these men comprises the time from about B.C. 180 to A.D. 500, i. e. from Si- mon the Just to the completion of the Talmud. 'i"his period is again subdivided into that of the 'J'anaim and that of the Amorai'm — the former representing tiie time from about B.C. 180 to A.D. 219, the latter from A.D. 219 to A.D. 500.