קוד: אתה לבדך בתנ"ך
סוג: פרטים1
מאת: אבנר רמו
אל:
In the Book of Samuel we hear the priest Ahimelech asking David:
מדוע אתה לבדך, ואיש אין אתך.
“Why are you alone, and no man with you?” (1 Sam 21:2).
This question is somewhat redundant, as there was no one with David, he was obviously alone.
In the Book of Numbers we read about the elders sharing with Moses the burden of the people:
ונשאו אתך במשא העם, ולא-תשא אתה לבדך.
“And they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone” (Num 11:17).
In the Book of Deuteronomy we read: כי יהוה הוא האלהים: אין עוד מלבדו - “for YHWH, He is God; there is none else beside Him” (Deu 4:35; see also: Deu 4:39; 32:12; 2 Sam 22:32; 1 Ki 8:60; Is 43:11; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 6, 14, 18, 21, 22; 46:9; Joel 2:27; Ps 18:32).
The repeated biblical remarks about the singularity of God, give special importance to the phrase: אתה לבדך - “You alone” (e.g. 2 Ch 6:30) in prayers and other appeals to God. However, while the integrity of this phrase is mostly preserved in the Greek translation of the Bible, the current Hebrew version of the bible contains many variants of this expression. Here are several examples:
In the Book of Chronicles we read:
ואתה תשמע מן-השמים מכון שבתך, וסלחת, ונתתה לאיש ככל-דרכיו, אשר תדע את-לבבו: כי אתה לבדך ידעת, את-לבב בני האדם.
“And hear You from heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know-for You alone know the hearts of the children of men” (2 Ch 6:30).
Yet when these words appear in the Book of Kings we find:
ואתה תשמע [] השמים מכון שבתך, וסלחת ועשית, ונתת לאיש ככל-דרכיו, אשר תדע את-לבבו: כי-אתה ידעת לבדך, את-לבב כל-בני האדם.
“And hear You [in] heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know-for You alone know the hearts of all the children of men” (1 Ki 8:39).
In addition to the deletion of the word מן - “from”, and the addition of the word כל - “all”, we have here a word-order change from אתה לבדך ידעת - “You alone know” to: אתה ידעת לבדך - “You know alone.” The fact that the Greek (and English) translator changed here the word order, suggests that they believed that the integrity of the phrase אתה לבדך - “You alone” should be maintained.
In the Book of Isaiah we read:
ויתפלל חזקיהו אל-יהוה, לאמר.
יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל ישב הכרבים, אתה-הוא האלהים לבדך לכל ממלכות הארץ; אתה עשית את-השמים ואת-הארץ.
“And Hezekiah prayed to YHWH, saying:
O YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, that sits upon the cherubim, You are the God alone of all the kingdoms of the earth; You had made heaven and earth” (Is 37:15-16; see also: 2 Ki 19:15, 19; Is 37:20; Ps 83:19; 86:10; Neh 9:6).
The Greek translator wrote here: “You alone are God (to)” which suggests that he believed that the words אתה-הוא האלהים לבדך is a word disorder of אתה לבדך-הוא האלהים - “You alone are God.”
This understanding is further supported by the reading: לך לבדך חטאתי, והרע בעיניך עשיתי - “Against You alone have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Your sight” (Ps 51:6).
In the Book of Isaiah we read: אנכי אנכי, יהוה; ואין מבלעדי, מושיע - “I, even I, am YHWH; and beside Me there is no savior” (Is 43:11; see also: 2 Sam 22:32; Is 44:6, 8; 45:6, 8; Ps 18:32).
However, the comparison with the previous verses suggests that מבלעדי (mibala’dai) is a letter-insertion and order-type error of מלבדי (milvadi) - “beside me.” (e.g. Deu 4:35).
It is also suggested that similar errors occurred in the following examples:
In the Book of Kings we read:
והמלך שלמה נתן למלכת-שבא את-כל-חפצה אשר שאלה, מלבד אשר נתן-לה כיד המלך שלמה;
“And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty” (1 Ki 10:13; see also: Num 6:21; 2 Ch 9:12; 17:19).
Yet in the Book of Genesis we read: בלעדי רק אשר אכלו הנערים - “save only that which the young men have eaten” (Gen 14:24; num 5:20; jos 22:19).
However, the comparison between these verses and the understanding of the Greek (and English) translators suggest that here בלעדי רק אשר (bila’dei raq asher) is a letter-insertion, a letter-substitution and an order-type error of מלבד אשר (milvad asher) - “except for.”