339 RESCUED ALREADY ? THE SIGNIFICANCE yntyn[ OF is more likely to result in loss of letters, which may not be restored if some other interpretation of what is left is feasible. Lectio brevior is probably therefore of no major significance in instances such as this one. The question of lectio difficilior will be considered following discussion of the MT reading. II. The Masoretic reading yityi"ˆ is morphologically a 2nd person singular qal qatal form n : n[ from hn[, with a first person objective suffix. The choice of an appropriate translation for this root in Ps 22,22 is inextricably intertwined with syntactic considerations. The semantic field of relevance here can be broadly identified as “answering” 20. H owever the grammatical functioning of the English word “ answer ” means that it is not an ideal translation in the context of some interpretations of Ps 22,22. The problem is that if yntyi"ˆ is i : n[ placed in direct syntactic relationship with μymr yerQm, (as required ie n ˆ " i by some, but not all, readings of the MT) it requires that the answer is in some sense “from” the “horns of the wild oxen” 21. When the English word “answer” is placed in syntactic association with ‘from’, the preposition usually serves to specify not the problem concerning which an answer is sought, but rather the source of the answer 22. The context of Ps 22,22 makes it clear that the type of answer sought is rescue from danger. Whilst terms such as “rescue”, “ save ” or “deliver” undeniably have narrower semantic fields than “ answer ”, the semantic field of “answering” can encompass these other senses, when these senses are contextually indicated. Such indications are present here both in the way a source of danger Cf BDB, DCH. 20 The identification of the animals is uncertain. M. HEINEMANN, “An 21 Exposition of Psalm 22”, BSac 147 (1990) 286-308, here 298, argues for the appropriateness of “oxen” based on a chiasmus within the Psalm. It is possible that the phrase μymr yerQm stands metonymically for God’s 22 i e n ˆ" i throne : see H. SIMIAN-YOFRE, Sofferenza dell’uomo e silenzio di Dio nell’Antico Testamento e nella letteratura del Vicino Oriente Antico (Roma 2005) 48; G.W. COATS, “The Golden Calf In Psalm 22”, HBT, 9 (1987) 1-12, here 7. Given this interpretation the preposition would indeed specify the source of the help, and so translation using “answer” would work.