109 WHY ARE THE SINS OF EPHRAIM AND JOB BUNDLED? dian terminology for absolving sins, Watson concludes that a sin bound in a bundle, or one that is still “tied”, must be a sin that remains unabsolved 6. As will be shown below, Watson’s parallels can be added to biblical evidence in favor of the punitive interpretation of the imagery of bundled sins. One must still explain, however, how binding sins in a bundle comes to refer to punishment. What is the connection between the terminology and its punitive meaning? The problem is similar to the one posed by the extremely common ter- minology of “bearing sin”. In that case, broad attestations of the verbs for “bearing” allow one to determine that the root of this terminology is the perception of sin as a physical burden. Guilty sinners must bear this weight, unless God, in an act of forgiveness, assumes the burden for them 7. In other words, with regard to “bearing sin”, the “real world” analogue to sin is a heavy object or weight that must be carried. Regarding the imagery in Hos 13,12 and Job 14,17, the question may be phrased as follows: Is there a similar “real world” analogue to the sins that, like them, would be tied and sealed? If so, what is it? In answering these questions, scholarship to date has offered two sug- gestions, one from the realm of accounting and the other from the realm of document preservation 8. Those who would see the roots of the imagery in accounting practices point to a sealed clay container from Nuzi, which held a number of little stones that represented actual sheep and goats enu- merated on the container’s exterior in writing 9. The sins of Ephraim and Job, like the sheep and goats at Nuzi, are fully accounted for by means of representative objects that are held in a sealed container. According to this suggestion, the physical analogues to the sins are the livestock being tal- lied, while the bundle refers to the container that holds the tally markers. The other suggested interpretation, the one based on document preserva- tion practices, points to the bundling and sealing of written documents, at- tested in Isa 8,16, as well as in the physical remains found at Qumran and 6 W.G.E. WATSON, “Reflexes of Akkadian Incantations in Hosea”, VT 34 (1984) 245. WATSON applies his conclusion only to Hos 13,12, but it applies just as well to Job 14,17. 7 B.J. SCHWARTZ, “‘Term’ or Metaphor – Biblical )+x/(#p/Nw( )#n”, Tarbiẓ 63 (1994) 163 (in Hebrew). For recent exposition of this topic, see G.A. ANDERSON, Sin. A History (New Haven, CT 2009) 15-26. 8 For a summary see M.H. POPE, Job (AB 15; Garden City, NY 1965) 103-104. 9 See POPE, Job,104. The “bundle of the living” in 1 Sam 25,29 is occa- sionally invoked in these interpretations, as for example, in E. JACOB, Osée (CAT 11A; Genève 1982) 93. Apart from the obvious “bundle”, however, the connection between 1 Sam 25,29 and the imagery in the present verses re- mains tenuous.