חשש לשגיאה

מאת: אבנר רמו

In the Book of Isaiah we find the phrase: אש להבה - “a flaming fire” (Is 4:5; see also: Hos 7:6). Yet one chapter later we read: לכן כאכל קש לשון אש, וחשש להבה ירפה - “Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the chaff is consumed in the flame” (Is 5:24).

It is not clear how the English translator determined that the unusual word חשש means “chaff” and that here ירפה means “consumed.” The Greek translator disregarded the word חשש and translated ירפה as “weakened.”

It is suggested that here ירפה (irpeh) is a ב (b) - פ (p) bilabial exchange error of ירבה (yarbeh) - “will increase.” It is also suggested that: וחשש(vekhashash) is a misspelled and mis-divided וקש אש (veqash esh) - “and stubble, fire.” The whole expression would now be:
ירבה להבה וקש, אש - “and stubble, will increase flaming fire.”