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Can I see a list of the 18 Tikunei Sofrim(emendations of the scribes)? (Describing each of them)

I have found various references to the 18 Tikunei Sofrim online, but no elaboration on what each one is. Some sources elaborate on just one or a few, but not all.

Some sources point to where one can find a list, but the Sefer they refer to is all 100% in Hebrew and not so easy for me to understand, as my Hebrew translation skills are not fluent. (note- I'm ok with Hebrew in Tanach as I have tools available to me to help translate)

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  • Al Berko, the edit you made, was making my title into a non-question. My title this way is a question as it should be, so I adjusted the title again after your edit to it.
    – barlop
    Feb 20, 2019 at 22:57
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    why should a title be a question?
    – Double AA
    Feb 20, 2019 at 23:15
  • it's also pretty common for the title to be in the form of a question, so people see exactly what the question is, besides for searching for a question. If one looks on superuser.com or stackoverflow.com one will see lots of questions there(shown by title), and with question marks.
    – barlop
    Feb 20, 2019 at 23:58
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    That could be but there are plenty also that are summaries without being a complete question sentence. Neither way is right or wrong.
    – Double AA
    Feb 21, 2019 at 0:02
  • @DoubleAA well having it as a question should alleviate all doubts over what is being asked. Sometimes on some SE sites, when a post is made some admin flags it as "not sure what you're asking".
    – barlop
    Feb 21, 2019 at 0:07

1 Answer 1

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The following is a very incomplete answer because it has a list but not with each described. I hope somebody can post an answer with each one described.

There is an article here https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/many-rabbis-agree-that-ezra-changed-the-torah-text/#_ftn4

That says this.. It lists the references. Then after, it only describes one or two, not all.

"The eighteen alterations of Scripture, listed in the classic work Ochlah W’Ochlah,[4] are as follows: (1) Genesis 18:22, (2) Numbers 11:15, (3 and 4) Numbers 12:12, (5) I Samuel 3:13, (6) II Samuel 16:12, (7) I Kings 12:16, (8) II Chronicles 10:16, (9) Jeremiah 2:11, (10) Ezekiel 8:17, (11) Hosea 4:7, (12) Habakkuk 1:11, (13) Zechariah 2:12, (14) Malachi 1:13, (15) Psalms 106:20, (16) Job 7:20, (17) Job 32:3, and (18) Lamentations 3:19."

(there are two changes in Numbers 12:12)

That article doesn't state the details of each change though.

This article by avrohom lieberman may be of interest but doesn't detail each one either http://www.zen76171.zen.co.uk/tikuneisofrimarticle.pdf He mentions other ideas e.g. that there are only a few, or that there's about 30. Avrohom Lieberman's article mentions ideas such as that the emendations go back to when the book was first written e.g. moses made the emendations in the 5 books(no doubt avrohom lieberman assumes/holds to mosaic authorship). Ginsberg lists about 134 but that article by avrohom lieberman says that modern masoretic scholarship puts it at less than Ginsberg lists. Ginsberg's list is mentioned https://levendwater.org/companion/append32.html and http://www.oocities.org/hebrew_roots/html/hr-2-1-02.html

The list mentioned in Avrohom Lieberman's article also doesn't detail each one, and suggests there may be some variation in the list, as he says the listing he gives is "more of less, the classical 18 tikkunei soferim".

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I notice that when comparing the small list, the 18, compared with Ginsberg's list.. It's not like Ginseberg's list is all of the 18 + more. Infact it looks to me like Ginsberg's list includes none of the 18. So the lists may be different in nature. According to the two links I gave for Ginsberg's list, Ginsberg's list is for changes of the tetragrammaton to Adonai(with kamatz).
The 18 may be changes other than that e.g. that "times of israel" link mentions one of the 18.

"The original wording in Zechariah 2:12 has God saying that “whoever touches you [Israel] touches the apple of my eye.” The metaphor of someone poking a finger in God’s eye suggests that God has an eye and can be harmed. It was replaced to “his eye,” implying that whoever touches Israel will be punished so severely that it is as if he damaged his own eye."

So, that, from the 18, is not a change of Tetragrammaton to Adonai(with kamatz), and likely all the 18 are not. Whereas the Ginsberg list , according to those two links, are all changes of Tetragrammaton to Adonai(with kamatz).

Regarding the 18, or perhaps even generally any change https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tikkun-soferim "Not Everyone Agreed That Words Were Substituted in the Torah"

Hopefully somebody can post a better answer, that'd be one that lists the details of each one of the 18.

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