The Dotted 'They' of the Idol-Makers — Isaiah 44:9
הֵמָּה
What to look for
In Isaiah's satire of idol-makers — 'their witnesses neither see nor know' — dots mark hemah, 'they.'
What it is
A dotted word inside the Bible's sharpest mockery of manufactured gods.
Why it matters
Who exactly are 'they' — the idols, or the people who made them? The dots blur the pronoun on purpose: maker and made have become indistinguishable, both blind.
How it has been understood
It is the chapter's whole argument in one marked word: you become what you worship. The prophet who says an idol's devotee 'feeds on ashes' gets scribal backup — a pronoun dotted where the line between worshiper and worshiped dissolves.