אוכלי חינם

מאת: אבנר רמו

In the Book of Numbers we read that in a place Taberah the children of Israel wept and said: “Would that we were given flesh to eat!” (Num 11:4), and then they continued:זכרנו, את-הדגה אשר-נאכל במצרים חנם; את הקשאים, ואת האבטחים, ואת-החציר ואת-הבצלים, ואת-השומים.“We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Num 11:5). We may wonder, why of all these types of Egyptian foods, only the fish could be obtained for free, as if the fishermen did not need to be paid for their work. In addition, the rest of this verse appears grammatically disconnected from its beginning. Both problems could be solved if we will assume that the word חנם (khinam) is a misspelled וגם (vegam) - “and also” as in:וישב את כל-הרכש; וגם את-לוט אחיו ורכשו השיב, וגם את-הנשים ואת-העם - “And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people” (Gen 14:16; see also: Gen 14:7; 15:14; 21:13; Ex 5:2; 21:35; Num 18:2; Deu 7:20; Jud 2:10; 1 Ki 2:5; 15:13; 18:35; 2 Ki 16:3; 23:15, 19, 24; Is 7:20; Jer 27:6; 28:14; 52:10; Eze 20:12; 23:37; Zec 13:2; Ruth 4:10).