Nahum 3:10

Footnotes

1. 42 The reads לַגֹּלָה (laggolah, “as a captive”) with the preposition לְ (lamed) denoting essence/identity. On the other hand, 4QpNah reads בגולה (“as a captive”) with the preposition בְּ (bet) denoting essence/identity (“as a captive”). The ’s αἰξμάλωτος (aixmalōtos, “as a prisoner”) does not reveal which preposition was the original.
2. 43 The past-time reference of the context indicates that the Pual verb יְרֻטְּשׁוּ (yéruttéshu) is a preterite describing past action (“they were smashed to pieces”) rather than an imperfect describing future action (“they will be smashed to pieces”). The past-time sense is supported by the and . The , however, misunderstood the form as an imperfect. Not recognizing that the form is a preterite, the editors suggest emending to Pual perfect רֻטְּשׁוּ (ruttéshu, “they were smashed to pieces”). This emendation is unnecessary once the possibility of a preterite is recognized. The Masoretic reading is supported by the reading ירוטשו found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah 3:10).
3. 44 The reads יַדּוּ (yadu, “they cast [lots]”) from יָדַד (yadad, “to cast [lots]”). On the other hand, the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah) read ירו (“they threw, cast [lots]”) from יָרָה (yarah, “to throw, cast [lots]”) (e.g., Josh 18:6). The textual variant arose due to orthographic confusion between ד (dalet) and ר (resh)—two Hebrew letters very similar in appearance. The root יָדַד is relatively rare—it occurs only two other times (Obad 11; Joel 4:3 [3:3 ])—therefore, it might have been confused with יָרָה which appears more frequently.
4. 45 The and Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah) read ועל נכבדיה (“for her nobles”). The reflects וְעַל כָּל נִכְבַּדֶּיהָ (vé’al kol nikhbaddeha, “for all her nobles”), adding כָּל (“all”). The addition probably was caused by the influence of the repetition of כָּל in the preceding and following lines.