What Is the Geresh Trope? Meaning, Sound, and Symbol
Geresh (גֵּרֵשׁ) is a disjunctive cantillation mark in the Hebrew Bible — one of the te'amim of the Tiberian Masoretic system — that signals a small pause, telling the reader the word it sits on is set apart from the words that follow. Its Hebrew name means "driving out."
גֵּרֵשׁ (Geresh)
Disjunctive (pausal) accentWhat it does in the verse
Geresh is a disjunctive (pausal) accent, so its job in the verse is to separate rather than connect: it marks a minor break between words, grouping the phrase up to that point and cueing a brief stop before the reading continues. It is a fourth-level disjunctive — a "Count" in the Emperors-Kings-Dukes-Counts hierarchy of the prose accent system — making it one of the lighter, more local pauses rather than a major verse-dividing stop. Most often Geresh does not stand alone: it pairs with a preceding Kadma to form the very common Kadma-v'Azla unit. When it appears on its own, it is called Azla Geresh, or simply Geresh.
What the symbol looks like
The Geresh symbol is a single short, slanted stroke — resembling an apostrophe or angled tick — placed above the accented letter of the word, sitting over its stressed syllable. (TropeTrainer renders this glyph directly above the Hebrew so you can see exactly which letter carries it.) In Unicode it is U+059C HEBREW ACCENT GERESH. A rarer printed variant, Geresh Muqdam (U+059D), sits above the letter but shifted slightly to the right of the normal position. Do not confuse the cantillation Geresh with the punctuation geresh (U+05F3), a separate character placed after a letter to mark abbreviations and single-digit Hebrew numerals.
Good to know
Geresh is one of the frequently encountered te'amim, not a rarity like Shalshelet. In the Torah alone, a standalone Geresh appears 1,112 times, while the Kadma-v'Azla pair occurs 1,733 times; per book, standalone Geresh breaks down as Genesis 244, Exodus 228, Leviticus 175, Numbers 223, and Deuteronomy 242. Beyond the Torah it remains common, with 957 standalone occurrences in Nevi'im (the Prophets) and 780 in Ketuvim (the Writings). The mark also carries the alternate Hebrew name Teres (טֶרֶס), and its naming shifts across traditions: the Ashkenazi name is "Azla-geresh" or simply "Geresh," the Italian tradition calls it "Geresh," and the Sephardi name for the mark itself is "Gerish." (In the Sephardi scheme, the term "azla" specifically names the preceding Kadma when it stands before a Gerish.) The name גֵּרֵשׁ, "driving out," fits its character as an accent that drives a word apart from those around it. With TropeTrainer you can hear Geresh chanted aloud and practice the actual Torah and Haftarah readings where it appears.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Geresh trope?
Geresh (גֵּרֵשׁ) is a cantillation mark — a te'am — used to chant the Hebrew Bible. It is a disjunctive accent, meaning it signals a small pause that separates the word it sits on from what follows. It is a fourth-level ("Count") disjunctive, one of the lighter, more local pauses in the Torah reading system.
What does Geresh mean?
The Hebrew word גֵּרֵשׁ means "driving out." The sense fits the accent's role: it drives a word apart from the words around it, marking a break in the verse. Geresh is also known by the alternate Hebrew name Teres (טֶרֶס).
Is Geresh a pause?
Yes. Geresh is a disjunctive (pausal) accent, so it marks a break between words rather than joining them. It is a minor, fourth-level pause — lighter than major verse-dividing accents — that cues a brief stop. You can hear exactly how long that pause sounds by listening to Geresh chanted in TropeTrainer.
What is the difference between Geresh and Kadma-v'Azla?
They are closely related. Most often Geresh follows a Kadma to form the common pair called Kadma-v'Azla. When the Geresh appears on its own, without a preceding Kadma, it is called Azla Geresh, or simply Geresh. The mark itself is the same; the name depends on whether it stands alone or in the pair.
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