Mercha

Mercha
מֵרְכָ֥א ֥ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ
cantillation
Sof passuk׃  paseq׀
etnachta֑  segol֒
shalshelet֓  zaqef qatan֔
zaqef gadol֕  tifcha֖
revia֗  zarqa֘
pashta֙  yetiv֚
tevir֛  geresh֜
geresh muqdam֝  gershayim֞
qarney para֟  telisha gedola֠
pazer֡  atnah hafukh֢
munach֣  mahapakh֤
merkha֥  merkha kefula֦
darga֧  qadma֨
telisha qetana֩  yerah ben yomo֪
ole֫  iluy֬
dehi֭  zinor֮

Mercha (Hebrew: מֵרְכָ֥א, also spelled Merkha and other variant English spellings) is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books that are chanted.

The mercha is found in several trope groups, though the melody varies from one use to the next. It is the beginning of the Etnachta group, can be found either once or twice preceding the Sof passuk, or can occasionally precede the Pashta in the Katon group or a Tevir.

The 9117 times Mercha is found in the Torah 9117 is the second most of any trope sounds. Only Tipcha occurs more often.[1]

The Hebrew word מֵרְכָ֥א translates into English as comma.

Total occurrences

Book Number of appearances
Torah 9117[1]
   Genesis 2415[1]
   Exodus 1879[1]
   Leviticus 1371[1]
   Numbers 1859[1]
   Deuteronomy 1595[1]
Nevi'im 7672[2]
Ketuvim 5235[2]

Melody

In Etnachta group

In Sof Passuk group

First appearance (before Tipcha)
Second appearance (after Tipcha)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6
  2. 1 2 Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5


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