Mercha kefula

Dr. David Weisberg suggested^[1] that the merkha kefula mark is found on words that refer to an aggadic tale. For instance, he claimed^[1] that the merkha kefula of Zechariah 3:2 is meant to remind the reader of the aggadic legend that the high priest Joshua was literally thrown into a furnace (as recorded in the Talmud, b. Sanhedrin 93a).

Occurrences

The Merkha kefula mark appears in the following locations in the Torah:

It also occurs in the Haftarah at Zechariah 3:2, read on the (first, if there are two) Shabbat for Chanukah and for Parashat Behaalotecha.

Total occurrences

Book	Number of appearances
Torah	5^[2]
Genesis	1^[2]
Exodus	1^[2]
Leviticus	1^[2]
Numbers	2^[2]
Deuteronomy	0^[2]
Nevi'im	3^[3]
Ketuvim	4^[3]

The Merkha kefulah note occurs a total of 14 times according to the Leningrad Codex. They are:^[4]

Melody

References

^ ^a ^b Weisberg, David. “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-One Books.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 56, no.5, ser. 3, 1966, pp. 59-60
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6
^ ^a ^b Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5
^ Weisberg, David. “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-One Books.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 56, no. 4, ser. 2, 1966, pp. 320-321

[WeisbergAggadah-1] Weisberg, David. “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-One Books.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 56, no.5, ser. 3, 1966, pp. 59-60

[Price6-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6

[Price5-3] Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5

[Weisberg-4] Weisberg, David. “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-One Books.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 56, no. 4, ser. 2, 1966, pp. 320-321

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