What follows is the remainder of my text criticism for this passage. Then we can move on to more exciting topics. (Don’t tell Calvin I said that!) Seriously, this is probably the most in depth text crit I’ve done as of yet in my academic career, and it was, admittedly, pretty interesting. The issues that brought me the most glee were pondering over the emendation possibilities in the first line and, of course, axing the fourth line in verse 19. Also, it was fun to see how the versions dealt with a hapax (below), as well as deciding whether to emend the final two words in the passage. Now, without further ado…

Verse 20

פרים
     The LXX adds κοιλας αυτων. This is likely merely an attempt to make more clear the meaning of פרים, rather than reflective of a different Hebrew text. The Targums also follow the LXX reading, most likely for the same reason.

עללי טפחים
     The second word is a hapax legomenon. The translations of the two word phrase in the versions are very different from one another, indicating that there was some lack of clarity as to the meaning of the word (and thus phrase). The LXX has what some have regarded as a “double translation.” The first translation reads somewhat nonsensical: “a cook made a gleaning,” and is then followed by a more clear statement, but lacking words to translate in the Hebrew text, “will the children who suckle the breast be slain?” Most likely, rather than reflecting a phrase that has fallen out of the Hebrew text, the second translation is an attempt by a later copyist to clarify the first, and both refer to the עללי טפחים. The verb φονευθησονται may be an attempt to understand טפח with the root תבח, or it could be another double translation of the Hebrew יהרג in the third line.¹ The Syriac reads, “dashed in pieces,” the Targum, “infants wrapped in swaddling clothes,” and the Vulgate, “hand-breadth.” The variety of translations is enough to suggest that the issue is not a corruption, but difficulty translating the hapax.

Verse 21

לארץ חוצות
     The LXX has εις την εξοδον, “in the way out,” in some versions and εις γην εξοδων, “in the earth of the ways out,” in others. This is likely a corruption within the LXX, the latter being the more original translation and the former being an error.

נער וזקן
     Both the Targum and Syriac pluralize these two words, but the meaning remains the same either way. The LXX agrees with the MT in number and so the singular has been maintained here.

נפלו בחרב
     The LXX versions read almost unanimously, “are carried in captivity, by the sword and by hunger you killed…” The Syriac and Targum agree generally with the MT, and the additions or mistranslations in the LXX are probably an example of corruption within the LXX somewhere along the line.²

Verse 22

תקרא
     The LXX translates both as a second person singular and a third person singular in varying manuscripts. This is once again inner-Greek corruption and there is no further evidence of a corruption among the other versions.

מגורי
     The Hebrew root most likely means “terror,” but the LXX translates as “sojourning.” Both the Syriac and Vulgate offer translations that have something to do with fear, and the LXX translation is most likely reflective of a different understanding of the root of the Hebrew word.

טפחתי
     Another hapax occurs here, טפחתי, which comes from the same root, טפח, which caused problems earlier. Again the LXX misunderstands the root and translates as επεκρατησα, “rule over,” possibly itself a corruption of an original επεκροτησα, understood from the Aramaic טפח, “clap.”³ Either way, the translation makes no sense in context, so the MT version has been retained.

איבי כלם
     The LXX translates as “all my enemies.” This is an incorrect reading of the ambiguous consonantal text איבי כלם, which the Masoretes have pointed differently. The other versions agree with the MT except that the Syriac and Targum pluralize the noun and have a matching plural verb. Given the plural εχθρους, along with the evidence of a plural noun and verb in the Syriac and Targums, it is tempting to emend the text here. However, the MT has been retained for contextual reasons.⁴

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