Pinker, «On the Meaning of wy+m in Habakkuk 3,14a», Vol. 86 (2005) 376-386
In Hab 3,14a the minimal emendation
of wy+mb “with his staffs” into yw+mb “into the
spun of” is suggested. Hab 3,14 is perceived as describing God on His chariot
chasing the enemy’s fleeing horsemen, piercing the spun or braids at the back of
their head. These horsemen have previously much enjoyed the chase and the loot
when they attacked Judah.
380 Aron Pinker
on the head. Indeed, this verb aptly describes the employment of the mace or
battle-axe in frontal clashes, as Habakkuk does in the preceding verse. Use of
bqn in our verse points to a new unique battle situation in which God comes
so close to the back of the retreating/fleeing enemy that He can thrust a lance
or spear accurately at his nape.
[wyzrp] wzrp appears as derived from the unused root zrp, which means “to
separateâ€. ˆ/zrp occurs in the sense of “rule, dominion†(Jud 5,7.11), t/zrp in
the sense of “country, villages†(Ezek 38,11; Es 9,19; Zech 2,8), and yzrp in
the sense of “villager†(Deut 3,5; 1 Sam 6,18). The meaning of wzrp in the
context of the verse here continues to be problematic. Most versions and
many manuscripts read wzrp as a plural noun. However, the MT kethib allows
also entertaining the singular sense. Nogalski considers the MT a hapax
legomenon from an uncertain root (23).
The Septuagint translates wzrp as “princes†and so does the Peshitta. This
reading has support in the Arabic cognate farz, “distinguishedâ€. However, the
Septuagint translates the root zrp differently each time it occurs in the MT.
This could mean that the root zrp has multiple meanings, or that the
Septuagint is relying on the context rather than an understanding of the word.
It is also possible that the Septuagint translated from a text that differed from
the MT and had µynzr instead of wzrp. Barberini’s aJmartwlw'n, “the sinnersâ€,
may either represent a different Vorlage, or it may be a guess at wzrp
influenced by the [çr in the preceding verse. Margolis noted Aquila’s
rendering of wyrp by aJmartwlov" in Ezek 18,10 and suggested that the text here
was originally wzrp (24). This interpretation (and Barberini’s) would simply
repeat the first colon of 3,13b.
The Targumist, continuing his allusion to Exodus, understands wzrp as
“Pharaoh’s soldiers or warriors†and similarly the Vulgate takes it as “his
warriorsâ€. The evidence from the versions and Arabic parallels has led
Gruenthaner (25) and later Driver (26) (apparently independently) to conclude
that wzrp refers to some kind of “warriorâ€. This interpretation of wzrp has been
followed by many. Haak notes that most commentators distinguish between
the meaning “warrior†and the meaning “villagerâ€. In his view, “It is not clear,
however, that these terms must be separated since villagers commonly were
used as warriors in the ancient Near Eastâ€(27).
Albright translates wzrp as “his followersâ€. He says, “The meaning of the
word is doubtful, but in the light of the expressions wnwzrp, yzrph yr[, etc., it
would seem most reasonable to render it as ‘country folk, serfs’, hence
‘retainers’â€(28). Margulis emends wzrp into Úyzrp, similarly to the emendation of
(23) J. NOGALSKI, Redactional Processes in the Book of the Twelve (BZAW 218; Berlin
1993) 44.
(24) M.L. MARGOLIS, “The Character of the Anonymous Greek Version of Habakkuk,
Chapter 3â€, Old Testament and Semitic Studies in Memory of William Rainey Harper (eds.
R.F. HARPER – F. BROWN – G.F. MOORE) (Chicago 1908) 142.
(25) M.J. GRUENTHANER, “Chaldeans or Macedonians? A Recent Theory on the
Prophecy of Habakkukâ€, Bib 8 (1927) 278.
(26) G.R. DRIVER, “Linguistic and Textual Problems: Minor Prophets. IIIâ€, JThS 39
(1938) 397.
(27) HAAK, Habakkuk, 100.
(28) ALBRIGHT, “The Psalm of Habakkukâ€, 17.