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The acrostic is a form of embellishment used in the Bible and later in piyyut, spelling out the alphabet or the name of the author using the first letters of lines or verses. Various forms exist. ⸙Acrostic, from Greek ἄκρος (highest, topmost) and στίχος (verse), is a form of embellishment used in Hebrew texts since the Bible (all chapters of Lamentations, Psalms 25, 34, 111, 112, 119, and 145, Proverbs 31:10-31), in which verses or stanzas begin with letters that can be read as a unit. Biblical acrostics are alphabetic, sometimes …

1. Manuscripts 1.1. Oriental Jewish liturgy may be divided into two broad categories: statutory liturgy, organized around the "hard core" that is enshrined in Jewish law, and poetic ( piyyuṭ) liturgy, which historically originates in Byzantine-period Palestine and whose purpose is to either replace or embellish specific parts of the statutory liturgy. In codicological terms (Codicology), this division is reflected in the distinction that exists in most European rites between the siddur and the maḥzor - the former being the book containin…