On this week's Torah portion DovBear writes regarding Bereshit 41:19 (on one of Pharaoh's dreams):
The MT (Mesorah text) gives raqot (flat or hollow) on Gen 41:19; other ancient versions have daqot (meager).
This is a significant change, operating on the thought that the shorashim (Hebrew roots of the words raqot and daqot) are רקק and דקק respectively. The former (raqot) comes with the idea of a limit, while the latter more ancient (daqot) does not. Also, daqot (the one lacking an association with limit) is connected to the idea of the 'thin veil' which separates the worlds in both Celtic and Jewish tradition. Beyond the veil, in both Celtic and Jewish tradition, is a door - the faerie door of Witchcraft and the door of the Aron Hakodesh of Judaism. The Hebrew letter dalet ('d') of daqot is itself symbolic of a door, while the Hebrew letter reish ('r') of raqot implies that one is still actively involved in the process of clarifying physicality and not yet worthy to reach the door.
Taken together, the kine which came up in Bereshit 41:19 originally in the more ancient text brought with them a direct connection to the thin veil which covers the entrance to the mysteries. Importantly, the word raqot conjures a limit preventing access, while the more ancient word daqot does not preclude access to the mysteries.
I suggest that raqot is a deliberate error in the Mesorah text, placed there as a stumbling block for unworthy mystics.
D.
