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<font size="+1">The ba'al'ei ha-m'sora placed a vowel sign next to a
sh'va in places where they were afraid that somenoe would make a
sh'va na' into a nach. It is always done where there is a
g'ronit. In other words, it is done where they felt it necessary
to prevent mispronunciation. As ben Asher points out, it is all
l''fi r'tzon ha-sof'rim. (E.g., the keter has many hatafim where
Leningrad doesn't not.). <br>
<br>
When YHVH appears, everyone is used to pronouncing it as shem
Adonut so there is not need to put a patach next to the sh'va.
When YHVH is to be pronounced as Elohim, it is unusual and some
might not notice the required</font><font size="+1"> different</font><font
size="+1"> pronunciation. So the ba'alei ha-m'sora put the segol
next to the sh'va to make sure the word is pronounced correctly.<br>
<br>
<br>
GCh"T,<br>
<br>
David<br>
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