מיד-כלב יחידתי

מאת: אבנר רמו

In the Book of Judges we read:
ויחנו עליהם, וישחיתו את-יבול הארץ עד-בואך, עזה; ולא-ישאירו מחיה בישראל, - “And they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the earth, till you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel” (Jud 6:4; see also: Jud 17:10).

In the Book of Job we find: התצוד ללביא טרף; וחית כפירים תמלא - “Will you hunt the prey for the lioness? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions” (Job 38:39).

However, the comparison between these verses suggests that חית כפירים (khayath kephirim) is a letter-deletion error of מחית כפירים (mikhayath kephirim) - “the sustenance of young lions.”

Yet the Psalmist wrote: השיבה נפשי משאיהם; מכפירים, יחידתי - “Rescue my soul from their destructions, mine only one from the lions” (Ps 35:17).

However, the comparison between these verses suggests that here יחידתי (yekhidathi) is a misspelled מחיתי (mikhiyathi) - “my sustenance.” Alternatively, יחידתי (yekhidathi) could be a letter-addition error of חיתי (khayathi) - “my life” (e.g. Ps 143:3; Job 33:18, 22; 33:28; 36:14).

The Psalmist also wrote:
הצילה מחרב נפשי; מיד-כלב, יחידתי.
הושיעני, מפי אריה;
“Deliver my soul from the sword; mine only one from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth” (Ps 22:21).

The understanding of the Greek (and English) translators here appears odd. A person prays to God to save him from the lion mouth and from dog’s hand? However, if here again יחידתי (yekhidathi) is a misspelled מחיתי (mikhiyathi) - “my sustenance” or a misspelled חיתי (khayathi) - “my life” then we may assume that מיד-כלב (miyad-kelev) is a misspelled מיד-גנב (miyad-ganav) - “from the hand of a thief” (e.g. Ex 21:16; 22:3). If this suggestion is correct then we have here in addition to the substitution of the letter נ (n) by ל (l), an exchange between the velars ג (g) and כ (k).