44f Qumran Sectarian Manuscript (QSM) Codes

 

 

The QSM morphological database in BibleWorks (an unlockable module) is coded using the standard WTM coding scheme with some minor but useful exceptions. The "R" code which normally marks "Qere" amd "Kethib" readings is used to mark various characteristics of the Abegg Qumran text. In most cases the new "R" codes reflect markers in the text itself (the QST).

 

Each word in QSM (the morphology database) has an R tag with a fixed field of 9 characters followed by an 'N'. All field entries will be a zero or a one, e.g. R001000000N. Each field indicates whether or not a subword is tagged with a particular "reading" indicator in the text database (the QST). The examples below will help to make this clear. The fields are:

 

Field

Meaning

1

subword is between or has a [ ] (hole or edge of scroll)

2

subword is between or has a {{ }} (erasure by ancient copyist or editor)

3

subword is between or has a << >> (ancient correction)

4

subword has a letter with a dot above (a damaged character with a reading of one of two letters)

5

subword has a letter with a circle above (a damaged character with an uncertain reading)

6

subword has a circle in a letter position (an uncertain letter trace)

7

subword is between or contains { } (modern editors' decision that errant text should be removed)

8

subword is between or contains < > (modern editors suggested corrections to missing or errant text)

9

subword has a ^ (supralinear corrections made by ancient copyists/editors)

 

For example if you switch to the QSM version you can do the following searches:

 

.*@*+R?1???????N


will find all words marked or containing erasures by ancient copyists

 

.*@*+R??1??????N


will find all words marked or containing ancient corrections

 

The long fixed field is a bit awkward but it is the most flexible and powerful. The ? characters are used instead of zeros because many subwords have more than one of the editorial marks.

 

Note that none of these "characters" are directly searchable in QST except the character that is a circle replacing a missing letter. This symbol can be typed on the command line by pressing INSERT, then \ and then INSERT again.