{{Hebrew cantillation|name_en=Mercha|name_he=מֵרְכָ֥א|smbl=֥|smpl=וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ}} '''Mercha''' ({{langx|he|מֵרְכָא}}, also called מַאֲרִיךְ '''Maarich''' or מַאַרְכָא '''Maarcha''') is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books that are chanted.

Mercha is a conjunctive (''mesharet'') which precedes the following disjunctives (''mafsikim''): *Tifcha *Sof passuk *Munach Legarmeh *Pashta: Only when the mercha and the pashta are followed, without any syllable between them, as in {{large|הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙}} <ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.1.2?lang=he&with=all&lang2=he Genesis 1:2]</ref> *Zarka: Same rule as the Pashta<ref>When there is a paseq before the zarqa, the conjunctive also turn into a mercha, but it is more likely to be an other cantillation (similar as Munach legarmeh) See [https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.3.14?lang=he&with=all&lang2=he Genesis 3:14]</ref> *Tevir: Only if there is one syllable or less between the mercha and the tevir, as in {{large|מַעְיָ֥ן וּב֛וֹר}} <ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.11.36?lang=he&with=all&lang2=he Leviticus 11:36]</ref>. In some codex, when the tevir is not preceded by a darga or a mercha, and has a meteg because of a hateph-vowel, the meteg is then replaced by a mercha, as in {{large|וְנָ֥תְנ֛ו}} <ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.15.38?lang=he&with=all&lang2=he Numbers 15:38]</ref>

Mercha appears in the Torah 9117 times—the second most of any trope sounds. Only Tipcha occurs more often.<ref name=Price6/>

The Aramaic word {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מֵרְכָא}} translates into English as ''elongation''.

==Total occurrences== {| class="wikitable" !'''Book''' !Number of appearances |- |Torah |9117<ref name=Price6>Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 6</ref> |- |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Genesis |2415<ref name=Price6/> |- |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Exodus |1879<ref name=Price6/> |- |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Leviticus |1371<ref name=Price6/> |- |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Numbers |1859<ref name=Price6/> |- |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Deuteronomy |1595<ref name=Price6/> |- |Nevi'im |7672<ref name=Price5>Concordance of the Hebrew accents in the Hebrew Bible: Concordance ..., Volume 1 By James D. Price, page 5</ref> |- |Ketuvim |5235<ref name=Price5/> |}

==Melody==

===In Etnachta group=== File:MerchaEtGroup.jpg

===In Sof Passuk group=== First appearance (before Tipcha) File:MerchaSof1.jpg<br /> Second appearance (after Tipcha) File:MerchaSof2.jpg

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Torah reading}}

Category:Cantillation marks

{{Hebrew-Bible-stub}}