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Parashah

Section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text

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The division of the text into parshiot for the biblical books is independent of chapter and verse numbers, which are not part of the masoretic tradition. Parshiot are not numbered, but some have special names.

The division of parshiot found in the modern-day Torah scrolls of all Jewish communities is based upon the systematic list provided by Maimonides in Mishneh Torah, Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Torah Scrolls, chapter 8. Scholars mostly (see footnote) believe that Maimonides based his division of the parshiot of the Torah on the Aleppo Codex. The division of parshiot for the books of Nevi'im and Ketuvim was never completely standardized in printed Hebrew bibles and handwritten scrolls, though important attempts were made to document it and create fixed rules.

Incorrect division of the text into parshiot, either by indicating a parashah in the wrong place or by using the wrong spacing technique, halakhically invalidates a Torah scroll according to Maimonides.

Purpose

A parashah break creates a textual pause, roughly analogous to a modern paragraph break. Such a pause usually has one of the following purposes:

  1. In most cases, a new parashah begins where a new topic or a new thought is clearly indicated in the biblical text.
  2. In many places, however, the parashah divisions are used even in places where it is clear that no new topic begins, in order to highlight a special verse by creating a textual pause before it or after it (or both).
  3. A special example of #2 is for lists: The individual elements in many biblical lists are separated by parashah spacing of one type or another.

To decide exactly where a new topic or thought begins within a biblical text involves a degree of subjectivity on the part of the reader. This subjective element may help explain differences amongst the various masoretic codices in some details of the section divisions (though their degree of conformity is high). It may also explain why certain verses which might seem like introductions to a new topic lack a section division, or why such divisions sometimes appear in places where no new topic seems indicated. For this reason, the parashah divisions may at times contribute to biblical exegesis.

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