שמם or שבד: revisiting the text-critical note in Ezek 6:4a in the light of current views on the text of Ezekiel

Abstract

Ezek 6:4a contains a clause with two verbs in the MT but only one verb in the LXX. Textual commentators are not in complete agreement as to the manner in which the LXX treated the Hebrew sentence in translation. Elliger was of the opinion that the LXX translated the first verb in the verse (שמם) and omitted the second one (שבד). A more probable explanation would be to understand שבד rather than שמם as the Hebrew verb translated in the LXX, while שמם was absent from the base text used by the Greek translator. Opting for either of these explanations may, to some extent, depend on one's view on the nature and literary development of the text of Ezekiel.