מאת: אבנר רמו
In the Book of Kings we read:
ויאמר נעמן, ולא, יתן-נא לעבדך משא צמד-פרדים אדמה: כי לוא-יעשה עוד עבדך עלה וזבח, לאלהים אחרים--כי אם-ליהוה.
“And Naaman said: If not, yet I pray you let there be given to your servant two mules' burden of earth; for your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to YHWH” (2 Ki 5:17).
As a gift of “two mules' burden of earth” appears odd, we may wonder whether this expression is corrupted. The Greek translator wrote here: “a load of a pair of mules and you shall give me from the red earth.” Although the Greek translation does not offer here a logical explanation it suggests that צמד-פרדים אדמה means: “a pair of red mules.”
Now we read in the Book of Zechariah: ובמרכבה הרבעית, סוסים ברדים אמצים - “and in the fourth chariot grizzled bay horses” (Zec 6:3).
The Greek translator does not support the English understanding of the unusual ברדים אמצים (berudim amutsim), yet the comparison to the corrected verse 2 Ki 5:17 suggests that these words are misspelled פרדים אדמים (peradim adumim) - “red mules.” If this suggestion is correct then we have here a פ (p) - ב (b) bilabial exchange, a ד (d) - צ (ts) exchange, and an order-type error. This suggestion also solve the logical problem in Zec 6:1-8, which at its uncorrected form does not explain to what destination the red horses did go, and how the “סוסים ברדים אמצים - “grizzled bay horses” that belonged to the forth chariot could split to those that went to the south country (the grizzled?) and to those that walked through the land (the bay?). With the Suggested correction, while the black and white horses went to the north, the mules went to the south and the red horses walked through the land.
A well-known voicing alternation that occur in many languages, is the K (or Q) - Kh - H sound change. For example:
In the Book of Zechariah we read:
במרכבה הראשנה, סוסים אדמים; ובמרכבה השנית, סוסים שחרים.
ובמרכבה השלשית, סוסים לבנים;
“In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;
And in the third chariot white horses” (Zec 6:2-3).
Yet we also find in this Book: ואחריו סוסים אדמים, שרקים ולבנים - “and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white” (Zec 1:8).
It is not clear how the English translator determined that the unique word שרקים (seruqim) mean “sorrel.” The Greek translator wrote here “grey and spotted” but the comparison between these verses suggests that as a result of ח (kh) - ק (q) exchange and an order-type error
שרקים (seruqim) had erroneously replaced שחרים (shekhorim) - “black.”