338 DAVID ARMITAGE literal approach to translation of the Hebrew text followed by Aquila 13, as it demonstrates the existence of Hebrew manuscripts in the 2nd century C.E. which corresponded to the Masoretic reading of Ps 22,22 of a few centuries later. In support of the Septuagint reading is the way in which it parallels the preceding verse 14. This might be paraphrased as: v. 21 Deliver from the sword my soul; from the claw of the dog my precious life. v. 22 Save me from the mouth of the lion; from the horns of the wild oxen my afflicted soul. This translation is appealing; in particular, as Briggs points out, it may fit better with the reference to the wild oxen than does the reading of the MT 15. However the use of forms derived from yn[ to mean “afflicted soul” is unusual 16. The nominal form yyn[ is predominantly used in reference to “my affliction” in the Hebrew bible 17 ; metonymic use referring to the state of the speaker’s soul or flesh cannot be excluded, but lacks precedent. Retroversion from the Septuagint does give a shorter reading here 18. However the legitimacy of appealing to this in support of the Septuagint reading is doubtful. That preference for the shorter reading should have the status of a “rule” is at best questionable 19, and application of the principle to changes within individual words is particularly problematic. There are, to put it crudely, more ways to lose letters from texts than to add them in. Scribal emendation (deliberate or otherwise) can bring about additions or deletions. Physical damage to small areas of manuscript, on the other hand, E. TOV, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis, MN 22001) 13 146 ; J.M. DINES – M.A.KNIBB, The Septuagint (London 2004) 88; JOBES – SILVA, Invitation to the Septuagint, 39. A.A. ANDERSON, Book of Psalms (London 1981) 191. 14 BRIGGS – BRIGGS, Psalms I, 197. 15 Thus TERRIEN, Strophic Structure, 233, favours a reading reflecting the 16 Septuagint, yet speaks of the strangeness of this noun, which he translates as “ my wounded flesh”. A search of the morphologically tagged Hebrew text in BibleWorks 8 17 gives 36 instances of nouns derived from yn[ (excluding proper names). In each case the reference seems to be the affliction itself. (An adjectival form widely used in reference to “the poor” or “the afflicted” also occurs.) Noted in VILLANUEVA, Uncertainty, 88. 18 Cf TOV, Use of the Septuagint, 229. 19