Jewish Scribal Practices

Reader question: I forget the name of this practice but I recall seeing an enlarged character at the center point of a book or section of the Masoretic Text. My understanding is that this would assist in the quality control of the scribal process because all of the letters and/or words of a scroll to be copied were counted. Can you please point me to some reliable literature about this scribal practice, when did it originate, was it a specifically Jewish practice or is it known in other cultures, etc.?

Answer: Thanks for this question. The rabbis explained the term soferim, usually translated as “scribes,” as referring to the fact that they counted (Hebrew sofer means to count) because they counted the middle letters and words of books to ensure their accuracy.  This is one purpose of large letters in the Hebrew Bible.   E. Tov talks about this in detail in his Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible pp. 57-58.  I do not know this phenomenon from other cultures, but I can’t claim expertise.  See also http://jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/372/372_4letters.pdf.