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Special letters
Traditionally, some letters in the Hebrew Bible are written in a special way. Below we discuss large and small
and raised letters.

The principal division of these abnormal letters is into small ("ze'ira") and large ("rabbati") letters,
as indicated in the lists which are given below. The former appear to belong to an older Masorah
than that which provides for the large letters, and should be classed with the "qere" and "ketib."

The Encyclopedia Judaica tells us that there are 17 places in the Torah where a letter is written
extra-large or extra-small. There are six minuscules and eleven majuscules.

Apart from those there are a few other peculiarities, like the 9 inverted nuns (Num 10:35-36 and Psa 107:23-28,
40) and the broken vav (Num 25:12) and the specially shaped qof (Ex 32:25, Num 7:2).

See [YH] for more typesetting detail.

Enlarged letters

Traditionally, some letters in the Hebrew Bible are written enlarged.

The details on precisely how many, and which ones varies.
(Ashkenazic manuscripts have many more large letters than Sefardic mss. See also [MC].)
It has been suggested that there should be one large copy of each letter in the Torah, or in the entire Tanach.
Below a list.

The traditional enlarged letters

(of which 11 in the Torah).

‫ב‬ Gen 1:1 ִ ‫בּ ֵר‬

‫אשׁית‬ ְ all

‫נ‬ Ex 34:7 ‫ֹנצֵ ר‬ all

‫ר‬ Ex 34:14 ‫אַ חֵ ר‬ all

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‫ו‬ Lev 11:42 ‫עַ ל־גָּח ן‬ all, #

‫ג‬ Lev 13:33 ‫וְ ִה ְת ַגּלָּ ח‬ all

‫י‬ Num 14:17 ‫יִ גְ ַדּל־נָא‬ all

‫ן‬ Num 27:5 ‫ת־מ ְשׁפָּ טָ ן‬

ִ ֶ‫א‬ TE, MC, ML, MP, mm, R, HbD, BHS

‫ע‬ Deut 6:4 ‫ְשׁמַ ע‬ all

‫ד‬ Deut 6:4 ‫אֶ חָ ד‬ all

‫ל‬ Deut 29:27 ‫לכֵ ם‬

ִ ‫ַויּ ְַשׁ‬ all

‫ה‬ Deut 32:6 ‫ְליְ הוָה‬ ַ‫ה‬ all

‫כ‬ Jos 14:11 ִ ‫כּכ‬

‫ֹחי‬ ְ ML, YH, HbD

‫ז‬ 2 Reg 17:31 ‫נִ ְבחַ ז‬ ML, mm

‫צ‬ Jes 56:10 ‫צפָ ו‬

ֹ ML, mm, YH, HbD

‫ז‬ Mal 3:22 ‫זִ ְכרוּ‬ ML, mm, HbD

‫א‬ 1 Chron 1:1 ֥ ָ ָ‫א‬

‫דם‬ ML, mm, YH, HbD

‫ה‬ Psa 77:8 ‫הַ ְלע לָ ִמים‬ HbD

‫כ‬ Psa 80:16 ‫וְ כַ נָּה‬ ML, mm, YH, HbD

‫ק‬ Psa 84:4 ‫קֵ ן‬ ML, mm, HbD

‫ט‬ Job 9:34 ‫ִשׁ ְבטו‬ ML, mm, YH, (HbD typo)

‫מ‬ Prov 1:1 ‫מ ְשׁלֵ י‬

ִ ML, mm, YH, HdB

‫נ‬ Ruth 3:13 ‫ִלינִ י‬ ML, mm, YH, HdB

‫ ש‬Cant 1:1 ‫שׁיר‬

ִ ML, mm, YH, HdB

‫ט‬ Eccl 7:1 ‫ב‬ ‫ט‬ ML, mm, YH, (HdB typo)

‫ס‬ Eccl 12:13 ‫ף‬ ‫ס‬ ML, mm, YH, (HdB typo)

‫ח‬ Esth 1:6 ‫חוּר‬ ML, mm, YH, HdB

‫ו‬ Esth 9:9 ‫ַויְ ָזתָ א‬ ML, mm, YH, HdB

‫ת‬ Esth 9:29 ‫תּ ְכתֹּב‬

ִ ‫ַו‬ ML, mm, YH, HdB

‫פ‬ Dan 6:20 ‫ִבּ ְשׁפַּ ְרפָּ ָרא‬ ML, mm, YH, (HdB typo)

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BHS has far fewer enlarged letters, but it has Lev 11:42, Num 27:5, Deut 6:4 (2x), and for Gen 34:31, Lev 13:33, Num 13:30, Num 14:17,
Deut 18:13, Deut 28:68, Deut 29:27, Deut 32:4,6 there is the footnote "mlt Mss x maj" or similar.

Other enlarged letters in the Torah

‫ף‬ Gen 30:42 ‫וּבהַ ע ֲִטיף‬

ְ V, TE, MG, YH, HbD

‫ז‬ Gen 34:31 ‫הַ ְכז נָה‬ V, TE, MG, ML, YH, HbD, BHS fn

‫ח‬ Gen 49:12 ִ ‫חַ ְכ ִל‬

‫ילי‬ V, TE, MP

‫ ם‬Gen 50:23 ‫ִשׁלֵּ ִשׁים‬ V, TE, ML, MP, YH, HbD

‫ט‬ Ex 2:2 ‫ב‬ ‫ט‬ V, TE, MP, HbD

‫צ‬ Ex 11:8 ‫צֵ א‬ TE, MP

‫ץ‬ Ex 28:36 ‫ִצּיץ‬ V, TE, MP

‫ ש‬Ex 34:11 ‫ר־ל‬

ְ ָ‫שׁמ‬
ְ MP

‫ל‬ Lev 11:30 ‫לּטָ אָ ה‬

ְ ַ‫וְ ה‬ MP, HbD, #

‫פ‬ Num 3:16 ‫פּי‬

ִ ‫עַ ל־‬ MP

‫ס‬ Num 13:30 ‫ַויַּהַ ס‬ V, TE, MP, HbD, BHS fn

‫מ‬ Num 24:5 ‫מַ ה־טֹּבוּ‬ V, TE, MP, HbD

‫ך‬ Deut 2:33 ‫ַו ַנּ‬ V, MP

‫ ש‬Deut 3:11 ‫עֶ ֶרשׂ‬ V, TE, MP

‫ת‬ Deut 18:13 ‫תָּ ִמים‬ V, TE, MP, HbD, BHS fn, #

‫ק‬ Deut 22:6 ‫ן־צפּ ר‬

ִ ַ‫ק‬ V, TE, MP

‫כ‬ Deut 28:68 ‫וְ ִה ְתמַ כַּ ְרתֶּ ם‬ V, TE, MP, BHS fn

‫צ‬ Deut 32:4 ‫הַ צּוּר‬ V, MP, HbD, BHS fn

‫פ‬ Deut 32:5 ‫פתַ ְל ֹֽתּל‬

ְ‫וּ‬ TE

‫א‬ Deut 33:29 ‫אַ ְשׁ ֶרי‬ V, TE, MP

Small letters
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Traditionally, some letters in the Hebrew Bible are written small.

This may belong to an older tradition than that of enlarged letters.
The details on precisely which ones varies a little. Here a list.
‫ ה‬Gen 2:4 ‫ ְבּ ִהבָּ ְראָ ם‬V, TE, MP, mm, YH, HdB
‫כ‬ Gen 23:2 ‫ וְ ִל ְב ֹכּתָ הּ‬V, TE, MP, mm, YH, HdB
‫ק‬ Gen 27:46 ‫קַ ְצ ִתּי‬ V, TE, MP, mm, YH, HdB
‫ק‬ Ex 32:25 ‫הם‬
ֽ ֶ ֵ‫ְבּ ָ ֽקמ‬ (MP), HdB - possibly not small but variant quf
‫א‬ Lev 1:1 ‫ק ָרא‬
ְ ִ‫וַיּ‬ V, TE, mm, YH, HdB
‫מ‬ Lev 6:2 ‫ְק ָדה‬ ‫ֽמ‬ MP, mm, YH, HdB
‫י‬ Num 25:11 ‫ִפּינְ חָ ס‬ MP, R
‫מ‬ Deu 9:24 ‫מַ ְמ ִרים‬ V, TE, ML, MP, YH, HdB
‫י‬ Deu 32:18 ‫שׁי‬
ִ ֶ‫תּ‬ V, MP, mm, HdB, BHS fn
‫ר‬ 2 Sam 21:19 ‫בֶּ ן־י ְַע ֵרי‬ ML, HdB, BHS fn
‫ן‬ Jes 44:14 ‫א ֶרן‬
ֹ֖ ML, HdB
‫צ‬ Jer 14:2 ‫וְ ִצוְ ַח֥ת‬ ML, YH, HdB
‫ן‬ Jer 39:13 ‫וּנְ בוּשַׁ זְ בָּ ן‬ ML, HdB
‫ס‬ Nahum 1:3 ‫ְבּסוּפָ ה‬ mm, YH, HdB
‫ו‬ Psa 24:4 ‫לַ שָּׁ וְ א‬ ML, YH, HdB
‫ג‬ Job 7:5 ‫וגיש‬ mm, YH, HdB
‫ץ‬ Job 16:14 ‫ל־פּנֵ־פָ ֶרץ‬
ְ ַ‫ע‬ mm, YH, HdB
‫ח‬ Job 33:9 ‫חַ ף‬ mm, YH
‫ן‬ Prov 16:28 ‫וְ נִ ְר ָגּן‬ mm, YH, HdB
‫ד‬ Prov 28:17 ‫אָ ָדם‬ mm, YH, HdB, BHS fn
‫ב‬ Prov 30:15 ‫הַ ב‬ mm, YH, HdB, BHS fn
‫ל‬ Thr 1:12 ‫א‬ ‫ל‬ mm, YH, HdB
‫ט‬ Thr 2:9 ‫טָ ְבעוּ‬ mm, YH, HdB
‫ע‬ Thr 3:36 ‫ְלעַ וֵּת‬ mm, HdB
‫ת‬ Esth 9:7 ‫ פַּ ְרשַׁ נְ ָדּתָ א‬mm, YH, HdB
‫ת‬,‫ ש‬Esth 9:9 ‫ פַּ ְרמַ ְשׁתָּ א‬mm*, ML, YH, HdB*
‫ז‬ Esth 9:9 ‫ַויְ ָזתָ א‬ mm, YH, HdB

‫פ‬ Dan 6:20 ‫ ִבּ ְשׁפַּ ְרפָּ ָרא‬mm, YH, HdB

*) mm, HdB have only small ‫ ש‬in Esth 9:9; ML, YH have small ‫ ת‬,‫ש‬.

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Sarah

Bereshit (Genesis) 23:1-2 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: [these were] the
years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan: and
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

The end of the verse says that Avraham Aveinu came to eulogize Sarah Imeinu, ‫ וְ ִל ְב ֹכּתָ הּ‬and cry over losing her. ‫וְ ִל ְב ֹכּתָ הּ‬
is inscribed with a small letter kaf. The commentary Baal Haturim says the little letter is telling us Avraham cried only a
little because Sarah was an elderly woman. Hakham Shimshon Rafael Hirsch says that the word ‫וְ ִל ְב ֹכּתָ הּ‬, and to bewail
her, is written with a small kaf to suggest that although Avraham's grief was infinite, the full measure of his pain was
concealed in his heart and the privacy of his home.

Raised letters
Traditionally, four letters in the Hebrew Bible are written raised (or "suspended"). The list:
‫ נ‬Jud 18:30 ‫ן־מ ַנשֶּׁ ה‬
ְ ֶ‫בּ‬ all
‫ ע‬Psa 80:14 ‫ִמ ָיּעַ ר‬ all
‫ ע‬Job 38:13 ‫ְרשָׁ ִעים‬ all
‫ ע‬Job 38:15 ‫מֵ ְרשָׁ ִעים‬ all

There are four words having one of their letters suspended above the line. One of them, (Judges 18:30), is due to an
alteration of the original out of reverence for Moses; rather than say that Moses' grandson became an idolatrous priest, a
suspended nun was inserted to turn Mosheh into Menasheh (Manasseh).

The ‫ ע‬in Psa 80:14 is the middle letter of the book of Psalms.

Unexpected dagesh
Dagesh in alef is seen in Gen 43:26 ‫ ַויּ ִָביאּוּ‬, Lev 23:17 ‫תָּ ִב֣יאּוּ‬, Ezr 8:18 ‫ ַויּ ִָביאּוּ‬, and sometimes in Job 33:21 ‫ראּוּ‬.
ֻ

Resh with dagesh is seen in 1 Sam 1:6 ‫הַ ְרּ ִעמָ הּ‬, 1 Sam 10:24, 1 Sam 17:25, 2 Reg 6:32 ‫הַ ְרּ ִאתֶ ם‬, Prov 3:8
‫לשָׁ ֶרּ‬,
ְ Prov 14:10 ‫מָ ַרּת‬, Eze 16:4 ‫ל ֹא־כָ ַרּת‬, ibid. ‫שָׁ ֵרּ‬, Cant 5:2 ‫ֹאשׁי‬
ִ ‫שֶׁ רּ‬, Prov 15:1 ‫ֶה־רּ‬
ַ ‫ענ‬ֲ ַ‫מ‬, and Psa 52:5,
Prov 11:21, Jer 39:12 ‫רּע‬,ָ Ezr 9:6, Hab 3:13 ‫רּ ֹאשׁ‬, 2 Chron 26:10 ‫ֶה־רּב‬ ַ ‫מ ְקנ‬,
ִ Job 39:9 ‫רּים‬.
ֵ

(For ayin with dagesh, see below.)

ketiv and qere

The custom to leave the consonants as written (ketiv) and add vowels as should be read (qere) sometimes leads to
unexpected word forms.

In Jes 9:6 there is a final mem in the middle of the word ‫לםַ ְרבֵּ ה‬.
ְ This is a case of ketiv and qere, where a word
space was written but should not be read.

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Messiah

The closed, Final Mem, represents the era of Moshiach as explained in Kabbalah.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

In Job 38:1 there is a nonfinal nun at the end of a word in ‫׀ הַ ְסּעָ ָרה‬ ‫מנ‬.
ִ This is a case of ketiv and qere, where no
word space was written, but one should be read.

In Neh 2:13 there is a nonfinal mem at the end of a word in ‫רוּצים‬

ִ ‫׀ ְפּ‬ ‫אֲשֶׁ ר־הֵ מ‬.

In Ez 9:11 there is a kaf with both sjwa and cholem in ‫ ְֹכּ אֲשֶׁ ר‬, to be read as ‫כּכֹל אֲשֶׁ ר‬.
ְ

ִ ‫בַּ ּ ְעפ‬, to be read as ‫בַּ ְטּח ִֹרים‬.

In 1 Sam 5:12 there is an ayin with dagesh in ‫ֹלים‬

In Jes 54:16 there is a dagesh with vowel but without consonant in ֵּ ‫( ִהן‬or ֵ ‫)הן‬
ִ to be read ‫הנֵּה‬.
ִ

Various places there are vowels only, without consonant, where these indicate a word to be read of which the
letters were not written.

Broken vav, vav ketia

In Num 25:12 in the word ‫ שָׁ ל ם‬the ‫ ו‬is broken. See also [MP].

The story is that God promises peace after Pinchas has killed two sinners. According to tradition, the peace you
get after killing is broken.
There are two often overlooked textual clues in the Hebrew text. There are lots of scribal oddities in the
Torah: big letters, small letters and upside down letters. But with one exception, if any letter is broken or
split, the Torah is not kosher. Here, the 'vuv' in the word for peace, shalom, is 'broken' and the reverse is
true; if the 'vuv' is written normally, the Torah is not kosher. In other words the Torah seems to be saying
God wants to give Pinchas peace, but it cannot be a whole peace, because of his actions. This reminds me
of King David, who wasn't allowed to build the temple because he was a man of war. The second textual
oddity is in Pinchas' name itself. It can be written with a 'yod' (or not). But when his name appears the first
time in our parasha the 'yod' is written smaller than usual. Now the 'yod' is normally interpreted as God's
presence, (so for example Hoshua has his name changed to Yehoshua when he takes over from Moses to
signify that God is with him). I see the diminuition of the 'yod' in Pinchas' name to represent that God's
presence has withdrawn from his violent actions.

(Pinhas)

Nun hafucha

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There are symbols "reversed letter nun" (nun hafucha) before Num. 10:35, and after Num. 10:36. The shape
varies: nun rotated or backwards, or with lower part backwards and upper half as usual, etc. These symbols are
not to be pronounced, are separators rather than letters. Unicode 4.1 encodes NUN HAFUKHA as U+05c6.
Two explanations are given for these two symbols.

The first, by R. Simeon ben Gamaliel, says that the two verses enclosed will (when the Messiah comes) be removed from
here and put in their proper place. According to R. Ashi that is after Num 2:34.

The second, by R. Samuel ben Na'hmeni, says that this passage (Num 10:35-36) forms a book in itself, so that Numeri is
three books, and the Torah consists of seven books.

See shabbat 16 and nun_hafucha.

In the LXX this passage precedes Num 10:34.

Apart from Num 10, there is one more place that contains reversed/inverted/backwards nuns, namely Psalm 107.
(There are 2 in Num 10 and 7 in Ps 107:23-28,40. [ML] has extra space instead of inverted nun in Ps 107.)

Puncta extraordinaria - Ezra's points

The puncta extraordinaria (nequdot, ‫ )נקודות‬are dots which are found over (53 times) and under (3
times) certain letters. Unicode 4.1 encodes them as U+05c4 (upper) and U+05c5 (lower). These dots predate the
Masoretic system, and seem to be preserved but ignored by the Masoretes. They are also written in unvocalized
texts. Probably the original meaning was to denote that the indicated letters are uncertain, perhaps have to be
removed. (Such use of dots is known from the Qumran scrolls.)

Ten dotted expressions in the Torah: ... And he fell on his neck and kissed him (Gen 33:4). (The word ‫ׄשּׁ ֵׄקהׄ ׄוּ‬
ָ ׄ ‫ ַו ִׄיּ‬is dotted,
(because) you might think he kissed him out of love. To pasture their father's flock at Shechem (Gen 37:12). You might think
they really pastured them.... Why are all these letters dotted? This is what Ezra said: `If Elijah comes and says "Why did
you write (them)?" I will say to him, "I have dotted them"; but if he tells me, "You have written well", I will remove the dots
from them.'

Fifteen verses have nequdot:

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# dots on verse word(s) remarks

1 ‫י‬ Gen 16:5 ‫וּבֵ ינֶ ֽ ׄי‬
3 ‫איו‬ Gen 18:9 ‫ל ׄי ׄו‬
ָ ֔ ‫ֵׄא‬ BHS: also on ‫ל‬
1 ‫ו‬ Gen 19:33 ‫ׄמהּ‬
ֽ ָ ‫וּבקוּ‬
ְ
6 ‫וישקהו‬ Gen 33:4 ‫ׄשּׁ ֵ ׄ ֑קהׄ ׄוּ‬
ָ ׄ ‫ַו ִׄיּ‬
2 ‫את‬ Gen 37:12 ‫־צ ֹאן‬
֥ ׄ‫ֶׄאת‬
5 ‫ואהרן‬ Num 3:39 ‫ר ׄן‬
ֹׄ ֛ ‫ה‬
ֲ ׄ ‫וְ ַ ֽׄׄא‬
1 ‫ה‬ Num 9:10 ׄ‫ֹקה‬
ָ֜ ‫ְרח‬
1 ‫ר‬ Num 21:30 ׄ‫א ֲֶשׁ֖ר‬
1 ‫ו‬ Num 29:15 ֙ ‫וְ ִעשָּׂ ר ׄן‬
11 ‫ לנוולבנינוע‬Deu 29:28 ‫לם‬
ָ ֔ ‫ ָׄל֤ ׄנ ׄוּ וּ ְׄׄל ָׄב ֵ֨נ ׄ ׄי ׄנ ֙ׄוּ ׄ ַעד־ע‬BHS: not on ‫ע‬
3 ‫יצא‬ 2 Sam 19:20 ׄ‫אֲשֶׁ ר־ ָי ָׄצ֥א‬ mm: only on ‫יא‬
3 ‫המה‬ Jes 44:9 ׄ‫֗הֵ ׄ ָׄמּה‬
5 ‫ההיכל‬ Eze 41:20 ‫ׄכ ׄל‬
ֽ ׄ ָ ‫ַׄה ֵׄהי‬ ML: only on ‫ההכל‬
7 ‫ מהקצעות‬Eze 46:22 ׄ‫ְ ׄמ ֻׄה ְ ׄק ָׄצ ֽ ׄע ׄת‬
mm: upper on ‫לולא‬, no lower;
3+3 ‫ללא‬ Psa 27:13 ׄ‫ׄלוּ ֗ׄלֵׄ א‬
one also sees 4+4

References
BHS is Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 1997,
MC is Menachem Cohen, On the Number of Verses, Words and Letters in the Bible,
MG stands for Mikraot Gedolot (Pardes, 1951) as quoted by Mordechai Pinchas,
ML stands for Meir Halevi Letteris, Sefer Torah, Nevi'im u-Khetuvim (Berlin 1925),
MP stands for Mordechai Pinchas,
V is Vienna MS 1 (according to [MC]),
TE is R' Yosef Tuv-Elem (according to [MC]),
mm is the on-line Mechon-Mamre Hebrew bible,
YH is Yannis Haralambous, Typesetting the Holy Bible in Hebrew, with TeX,
HbD is the list by Hilel ben David (Greg Killian).
Send additions and corrections to [email protected].

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