The First Dotted Word: 'Between You and Me' — Genesis 16:5
וּבֵינֶיךָ
What to look for
In Sarai's protest to Abram — 'may YHVH judge between me and you' — small dots ride above uveinecha.
What it is
The first of fifteen dotted words (puncta extraordinaria) in Scripture: words the ancient scribes marked with dots above the letters.
Why it matters
The dots are the scribes' oldest way of flagging a word for special attention — a question mark a thousand years older than question marks.
How it has been understood
Tradition wonders how far 'between me and you' reaches: only Abram? Or Hagar too — or heaven itself? The dots hold the question open. Across all fifteen dotted words, the pattern is the same: the scribes marked their questions instead of 'fixing' the text, which is exactly why we can still see the puzzle today.