מילון על במדבר 21:42

Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth, [2] the mouth of the well, [3] the mouth of the donkey, [4] the rainbow, [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir, [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.

Ten [letters or groups of letters] in the Torah are marked by dots:⁷The dots are placed above the letters. Cf. above, ARN XXXIV, p. 165 where the Rabbinical explanations are given. In the Lord judge between me and thee⁸Gen. 16, 5. there is a dot on the beth⁹So GRA. V and H ‘the yod’. of ubeneka (and between thee). In and they said unto him,¹⁰ibid. XVIII, 9. there are dots on alef-yod-waw of ’elaw (unto him). In and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose,¹¹ibid. XIX, 33. the [second] waw in ubekumah (nor when she arose) is marked with a dot. In and kissed him,¹²ibid. XXXIII, 4. the entire word wayyishshaḳehu is marked by dots. In and his brethren went to feed their father’s flock,¹³ibid. XXXVII, 12. the letters of ’eth (the mark of the defined accusative) are dotted. In whom Moses and Aaron numbered¹⁴Num. 3, 39. the word Aaron is marked with dots. In or be in a journey afar off,¹⁵ibid. IX, 10. the he in reḥoḳah (afar off) has a dot. In and we have laid waste even unto Nopha, which¹⁶ibid. XXI, 30. the resh in ’asher (which) has a dot. In and a several tenth part,¹⁷ibid. XXIX, 15. in the section dealing with the first day of the festival of Tabernacles, the second waw in we’issaron (and a tenth part) has a dot. In the secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever,¹⁸Deut. 29, 28. [H more correctly, ‘unto us and to our children and the ‘ayin in עד’. Cf. Sanh. 43b (Sonc. ed., p. 285, n. 4) and ARN above, p. 166.] the ‘ayin in ‘ad (for) has a dot.