The Chains of Verses in the Qedushta and the Ancient Benediction.

Central to this article is the riddle of the chain of verses that follow the magen, mehaye, and meshalesh in the qedushta, suggesting that they derive an ancient version of the amidah benedictions. We show that when chains of verses are included in hymns, they are derived from parallel chains of verses in prayers. Hence, the benedictions of the amidah probably also contained verses in an earlier period of its formation, and we find traces of these. Several ancient rabbinical sources indicate that a longer and more complex version of the amidah was once recited, and it included biblical verses. We suggest that they were included in order to distinguish between blessings, which were newly composed, and Scripture. This practice contrasts with the prayers (mainly the sectarian ones) from the Second Temple Era and other writings of that time, whose authors sought to imitate the language of the Bible and resemble it, sometimes even striving to have their works included in the canon. The amidah prayer evidently underwent processes of change and abbreviation, and it probably developed from an alternative version, 'an abstract of Eighteen Benedictions', shorter and less complex than the original prayer. The possibility that the cantor was called upon to recite the long prayer in its entirety, whereas the congregation tended to be satisfied with the short version, can explain the flourishing of hymns that embroider on the prayers. Chains of verses disappear from hymns when they are abbreviated. Toward the end of the article, we focus on the qedushta again and discuss the appearance of concluding rhymes that divide it between the chain of verses and the conclusion of the benediction. After a short conclusion, an appendix is presented, presenting a very ancient qerovah, every part of which is no more than a passage of poetry and a chain of verses, without any concluding rhymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]