3

How many words are there in Tanach? already asks about several statistics about Sifrei Tanach, but there's one that was left out:

How many Parshios are in each Sefer of Tanach?

A Parsha is defined as all the text between one gap in a Sefer Torah and the next, whether that gap is a 9-letter space ("setumah"), continues until the end of the line ("pesuchah"), or is the end of the Sefer.

I'm aware that there are different Minhagim on the matter; I'd be curious to see all of the major ones.

|improve this question
  • 1
    I'd say there's three major practices: Pinfer's list, the Berdetchiv lists, and the Keter's. – Double AA♦ Mar 1 '19 at 3:14
  • 1
    @DoubleAA None of those names mean anything to me. Which are typically followed by which communities? – DonielF Mar 1 '19 at 3:15
  • 2
    Berdetchiv approximate the breaks used by the Talmidei Hagra when they started writing neviim at their rebbe's behest. It's based on a Amsterdam printed Tanakh IIRC and is riddled with errors. Still used by some die hard Yerushalmim who think the Gra had some secret Mesorah. Pinfer (sp?) did a survey of many many editions and followed the majority in every instance. It's notably the basis for the well established Koren Tanakh. Don't know that anyone uses it for Safrut. A majority is only useful after all if all the components are independently valuable. – Double AA♦ Mar 1 '19 at 3:23
  • 2
    And the Keter is the same source we use for the breaks in the Torah, so it's about as reliable as you can get. Widely used in Safrut unless you're a Yerushalmi or you're scared of things they didn't have in Europe. (Many Acharonim in Europe wrote as obvious that they had no Mesorah for breaks in Nakh.) – Double AA♦ Mar 1 '19 at 3:24
  • 1
    Are you asking to include breaks within a section (e.g. in a shira) or only between sections? – Loewian Mar 1 '19 at 3:52
4

According to the Aleppo Codex the number of breaks are:

  • Genesis - 92
  • Exodus - 165
  • Leviticus - 99
  • Numbers - 159
  • Deuteronomy - 159

(based on Rambam's testimony in Hilkhot Sefer Torah chapter 8)

  • Joshua - 106
  • Judges - 88
  • Samuel - 369
  • Kings - 205
  • Isaiah - 242
  • Jeremiah - 281
  • Ezekiel - 185
  • Hosea - 18
  • Joel - 7
  • Amos - 28
  • Obadiah - 1
  • Jonah - 4
  • Micah - 17
  • Nahum - 4
  • Habakkuk - 9
  • Zephania - 7
  • Haggai - 8
  • Zachariah - 36
  • Malakhi - 8
  • Chronicles - 519
  • Ruth - 2
  • Canticles - 20
  • Ecclesiastes - 2
  • Lamentations - 134
  • Esther - 23
  • Daniel - 28
  • Ezra - 319

(based on Mechon Mamre's text with variations, based on testimony of the Codex's contents, in places where the Codex is currently missing and MM used another source)

|improve this answer
  • What about the sifrei emet? – Joel K Mar 1 '19 at 13:38
  • It's not always clear how to count those @joelk – Double AA♦ Mar 1 '19 at 13:46
  • @DoubleAA Why? I took a quick look and in Tehillim and Mishlei at least the blank lines look pretty clear to me. Iyov I agree has some non obvious features. – Heshy Mar 1 '19 at 14:15
  • @Heshy Does anyone argue that Tehillim isn’t 150? – DonielF Mar 1 '19 at 14:23
  • I assume that, similar to how you combine all the other books that the Christians split into two, your number next to Ezra is intended to encompass both Ezra and Nechemiah? – DonielF Mar 1 '19 at 14:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .