Inverted ( "isolated " or "inverted " or "" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

) is a rare glyph used in classical Hebrew. Its function in the ancient texts is disputed. It takes the form of the letter in mirror image, and appears in the

Masoretic The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

text of the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set: International Organization for Standardization
/ref> *

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

- twice, 10:35–36: the two verses are delineated by inverted , sometimes isolated outside the passage text and sometimes embedded within words in verses 10:35 and 11:1. *

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

- seven times in chapter 107 (vs 20-25, vs 39) The images at right show three common variants of the inverted – vertically flipped, horizontally flipped, and Z-shaped. Other renderings exist, corresponding to alternative interpretations of the term "inverted".e.g. Menahem Kasher, ''Torah Sheleima'', v. 29 It may also occur with a dot above.Reversed Nun in the BHS
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Occurrence and appearance

Inverted are found in nine passages of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. The exact shape varies between different manuscripts and printed editions. In many manuscripts, a reversed is found, referred to as a "" by the

Masoretes The Masoretes ( he, בַּעֲלֵי הַמָּסוֹרָה, Baʿălēy Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in ...

. In some earlier printed editions, they are shown as the standard upside down or rotated, presumably because the printer did not want to design a new rare character. Recent scholarly editions of the Masoretic text show the reversed as described by the Masoretes. In some manuscripts, however, other symbols are occasionally found instead. These are sometimes referred to in rabbinical literature as "simaniyot" (markers). In the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, the inverted frame the text: Sefer-torah-vayehi-binsoa

The are generally positioned close to, but not touching, the first and last words of the couplet.e.g. Ganzfried, ''Keset ha-Sofer'', ch. 1
English translation
They are supposed to be positioned between the gaps in between the paragraphs, but there is disagreement as to how this should be done.e.g. Ganzfried, ''Keset ha-Sofer'', ch. 1
English translation
Some texts invert the existing in the Torah text and don't add inverted before and after it.
/ref>

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

's commentary states that the name of the city of Haran at the end of the Torah portion Noach also occurs with an inverted , but this is not found in existing texts.Genesis Chapter 11 English Bible with Rashi - Chabad.org
/ref>

Rabbinic basis

The Babylonian Talmud records in the tractate Shabbath, folio 116a, that the markings surrounding Numbers 10:35–36 were thought to denote that this 85-letter text was not in its proper place. One opinion states that it would appear in another location which discusses the order of tribal column, with the position of the Ark already stated there. The 85-letter text found between the is also said to be denoted because it is the model for the fewest letters which constitute a 'text' which one would be required to save from fire due to its holiness. It also suggests that the inverted may suggest the Hebrew word , meaning 'a light'. The tractate Shabbat in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

says regarding the inverted :

Sifrei Sifre ( he, סִפְרֵי; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of '' Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers ...

explains these "signs": Iyunim – Weekly insights on the Parasha with commentaries by Nehama Leibovitz, za"l
/ref> The Talmud continues, stating that as this section is a separate book, the portions of Numbers before and after it also count as books and thus the

contains seven books in total:

Bar Kappara Bar Kappara ( he, בר קפרא) was a rabbi of the late 2nd and early 3rd century CE, during the period between the ''tannaim'' and '' amoraim''. He was active in Caesarea in the Land of Israel, from around 180 to 220 CE. His name, meaning "So ...

is known to have considered the Torah as composed of seven volumes in the Gemara "The seven pillars with which Wisdom built her house (Prov. 9:1) are the seven Books of Moses". Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy as we know them but Numbers was really three separate volumes: Num 1:1 to Num 10:35, followed by Numbers 10:35–36, and the third text from there to the end of Numbers. The

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

, in tractate

Yadayim Yadayim (Hebrew: ידיים, "hands") is a tractate of the Mishnah and the Tosefta, dealing with the impurity of the hands and their ablution. It is eleventh in the order Tohorot in most editions of the Mishnah. Mishnah In the Mishnah, Yadayim is ...

, states: According to

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

Maharshal Solomon Luria (1510 – November 7, 1573) ( he, שלמה לוריא) was one of the great Ashkenazic ''poskim'' (decisors of Jewish law) and teachers of his time. He is known for his work of Halakha, ''Yam Shel Shlomo'', and his Talmudic commenta ...

ruled that the Talmud only mandates the usual break for a parashah section, and Torah scrolls with extra letters are ' (unfit for ritual use).

Rabbi Yechezkel Landau Yechezkel ben Yehuda HaLevi Landau (8 October 1713 – 29 April 1793) was an influential authority in halakha (Jewish law). He is best known for the work ''Noda Biyhudah'' (נודע ביהודה), by which title he is also known. Biography Land ...

, however, defends the custom, stating that punctuation such as inverted doesn't count as extra letters and thus don't invalidate the scroll.

Elsewhere

Inverted appears to have been used as a scribal or editorial annotation or text-critical mark. The primary set of inverted is found surrounding the text of Numbers 10:35–36. The Mishna notes that this text is 85 letters long and dotted. The demarcation of this text leads to the later use of the inverted markings.

Saul Lieberman Saul Lieberman (Hebrew: שאול ליברמן, May 28, 1898 – March 23, 1983), also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, The ''Gra"sh'' (''Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul''), was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professo ...

demonstrated that similar markings can be found in ancient Greek texts where they are also used to denote 'short texts'. Greek sources, especially Alexandrian ones, refer to the sign as reversed sigma.Textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, pp. 54–55
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Unicode

The inverted is not part of any word, and is never pronounced; thus it is classed as

punctuation Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...

and not a letter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inverted Nun Hebrew alphabet Punctuation