8 - The Exegetical Roles of the Divisions

Summary

Chapter Eight investigates what role the accents plays in exegesis of the Hebrew Bible and suggests that the accents can help clarify ambiguous meanings, emphasize certain words or phrases, and create dramatic effect in biblical narrative. The various examples provided clearly demonstrate that the masoretic accents can have significant bearing on the exegesis of the biblical text. By paying close attention to the accentual divisions of the text, our understanding of the biblical text is enhanced and we can attain insights that Hebrew syntax alone may not provide.