Friday, October 27, 2023

Is it ko-yei or ko-vei?

This seem to come up as a hot topic every year regarding the הפטרה:

ישעיה מ:ל"א
וְקוֹיֵ֤ ה' יַחֲלִ֣יפוּ כֹ֔חַ

Where does the צירי fall? Under the ו"ו or the יו"ד? The מנחת שי is very clear that it is under the יו"ד and therefore, pronounced v'ko-yei. However, there is a very similar פסוק in תהלים ל"ז:ט:

כִּֽי־מְ֭רֵעִים יִכָּרֵת֑וּן וְקֹוֵ֥י ה' הֵ֣מָּה יִֽירְשׁוּ־אָֽרֶץ׃

There, the מנחת שי says it is under the וי"ו. He quotes the אבן עזרא which he understands to hold the opposite. I don't fully understand it but if that is the case, this might very well remain a matter of dispute and if so, perhaps no need to make a fuss over it. But one should probably go with the מנחת שי. Also, a reader provided me with evidence that according to the כתר ארם צובה, the צירי is under the יו"ד in ישעיה.

There is an interesting twist in this matter with the influence of contemporary Jewish music. There is a popular song by Dedi ע"ה which probably leads to the "misconception" of many that it should be pronounced v'kovei


Also, I recently saw that Artscroll (in one specific version - they are not always consistent) has the צירי under the ו"ו.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

עיין אבן עזרא שמות ט:ג