The Pointing of Psalm 122, in HUC 935

 

On page 49 of this manuscript, a westerner penciled "Ps. 122" in the same hand that had noted at the top of page 47, and in the text, that marked the location of Nehemiah 8:1:

We have no evidence that the Kaifeng Community ever had a separable Book of Psalms. It would seem that would have had one, at one time.  Certainly, by the post-1642 time period, it would seem that most of the psalms that were available to the community were embedded in other texts.  Let us see how the Kaifeng and modern Psalm 122 compare.

The Kaifeng text replaces the tsere beneath the nun and lamed with segol.  Both are "e" sounds, so the pronunciation is the same. 

Here, for "om'doth" the Kaifeng text replaces "em'deth."  The Kaifeng text adds a tsere beneath the ayin.  The Kaifeng text adds a dagesh to the dalet and adds a segol beneath the same dalet.  The Kaifeng text swaps a yod for a vav without any cholem.

The Kaifeng text swaps the patach beneath the lamed with a kametz.  Kaifeng: y'rushalam, and modern: y'rusalyam"

The Kaifeng and modern text differ on every vowel point here.  Kaifeng text replaces sh'va for segol beneath the shin.  Kaifeng text replaces the kubbutz beneath the chet with a kamatz.  The Kaifeng text replaces the sh'va beneath the bet with kamatz.  The Kaifeng text replaces the kamatz beneath the resh with tsere.  Kaifeng: sh'hanahrah.  Modern: shehub'rah

The Kaifeng text replaces the kamatz beneath the lamed with patach.  Both are "a: sounds. The Kaifeng text does not have a dagesh in the lamed.  

The Kaifeng text replaces the sh'va beneath the chet with petach.   The Kaifeng text adds a shuruk to the vav.  Kaifeng: yahadahvu.  Modern: yah'dav

The Kaifeng text replaces the segol beneath the shin with a patach.  Both are "a" sounds.

Beneath the tav, the Kaifeng text replaces the kamatz with sh'va, a pause.  Kaifeng: shv'tim.  Modern: shvatim.

The Kaifeng text replaces the tsere beneath the tet with a chirik.  Kaifeng: shiv'ti.  Modern: shiv'tey

The Kaifeng text replaces the tsere beneath the shin with segol.  Both are e sounds.

 

The Kaifeng text does not have a dagesh in the mem

The Kaifeng text replaces the shiva beneath the shin with a tsere.  Kaifeng: yashevu.  Modern: yash'vu

In the Kaifeng text, the tsere under the lamech is replaced with a segol.  Both are e sounds.

In the Kaifeng text, the sh'va beneath the bet is replaced with a kamatz.  Kaifeng: adabarah.  Modern: adab'rah.

There are 62 words in this psalm, and 13 divergences from the Kaifeng to the modern version.  Therefore, 20% is divergence in the Kaifeng text.  This is higher than any other Kaifeng text we have examined.