Oral Reading Traditions and Scriptural Hermeneutics: The Exegetical Significance of the Pausal Systems in the Hebrew Bible and the Qurʾān

Abstract The oral reading traditions of the Hebrew Bible and the Qurʾān have a number of affinities. Recent literature shows that these parallels include orthoepic features, the pluriformity of the oral reading traditions, as well as the representation of non-standard oral traditions in written form. The present article takes this comparative effort one step forward. It explores how pauses influence the exegesis of the Hebrew Bible and the Qurʾān. That is, it examines the impact of the Masoretic pausal accent signs and the pausal suggestions in the Quranic waqf and ibtidāʾ (pausing and beginning) literature on exegesis. Examining several case studies, the article points out parallels in the ways both reading traditions employ pauses in exegesis. Without denying the differences between the two systems, some of which are highlighted in the article, it is found that both seem to operate in conceptually similar ways.