Q516 MT Num 24:5 Kylh) OV(l) – Possible difference in
4QNumb XVII 24 ii, pronunciation.
27-30 17
hk[Q517 MT Num 24:6 (+n SV(1) – Lexical interchange.^1089
4QNumb XVII 24 ii,
27-30 18
h+nQ518 MT Num 24:9 (rk Not Counted – Error of transposi-
4QNumb XVII 24 ii, tion.^1090
27-30 21
r(kQ519 MT Num 24:9 bk# SV(1) – Lexical interchange.^1091
4QNumb XVII 24 ii,
27-30 21
CbrQ520 MT Num 25:16 omits SV(2) – 4QNumb has an explicat-
4QNumb XVIII 31- ing plus.^1092
33 i, 25
])r#[Q521 MT Num 25:18 Mkl OV(l) – Possible difference in
1089
The clause in the MT reads: hwhy (+n Mylh)k, “like the aloes planted by Yahweh,” against the restored
reading in 4QNumb: hwhy h+n Mylh)k, “like the tents spread by Yahweh.” The SP and the LXX both reflect
the reading in 4QNumb. The verb √h+n, “to spread out,” is possibly influenced by the occurrence of the
same verb earlier in the verse, but the obvious difference between the sources is the reading of the noun
Mylh) 1090 in the MT as “aloes,” against “tents” in 4QNumb.
See E. Ulrich and F.M. Cross, Qumran Cave 4. VII, 237, for this interpretation of the form in 4QNumb.
Other possible readings are √r(k / √r)k, “indecent, ugly,” for which see M. Jastrow, A Dictionary of the
Targum, the Talmud Babli, the Talmud Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (London: Luzac & Co.,
1903) 656. However, such a reading is conceivabley in breech of Rule 1, in that the form in 4QNumb ‘dis-
rupts the logical flow of the passage.’ Additionally, the agreement between 4QNumb and the SP in the next
variant suggests that reading these texts as agreeing here is preferrable. In this instance the SP agrees with
the MT in reading 1091 √(rk, therefore an error involving the metathesis of the letters kaph and ‘ayin is read.
The variant amounts to an interchange of synonyms. The MT has yr)k bk# (rk, “he croched, he lay
like a lion,” against the reading in 4QNumb, restored on the basis of the SP: hyr)k Cbr r(k, “he crouched
(sic), he lay down like a lion.” 1092
The additional phrase in 4QNumb is in agreement with the LXX, and clarifies the beneficiary of Moses’
address. 4QNumb is restored to read: l)r#y ynbl rbd rm)l h#m l) hwhy rbdyw, “And Yahweh spoke to
Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the sons of Israel.’”