חרב או חבל?

מאת: אבנר רמו

In the Book of Jeremiah we read:

וימשכו את-ירמיהו בחבלים, ויעלו אתו מן-הבור - “So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the pit” (Jer 38:13; see also: Hos 11:4)

. Yet in the Book of Ezekiel we find:

בן-אדם--נהה על-המון מצרים, והורדהו; אותה ובנות גוים אדרם אל-ארץ תחתיות--את-יורדי בור.“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and take them down, even her, with the daughters of the mighty nations, to the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit” (Eze 32:18).

רדה והשכבה את-ערלים. בתוך חללי-חרב יפלו; חרב נתנה, משכו אותה וכל-המוניה.
“Go down, and lay [her] with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword; draw her [down] and all her multitudes” (Eze 32:19-20).

The understanding of the English translator of חרב נתנה (kherev nithanah) as “she is delivered to the sword” appears superfluous and is not supported by the Greek translator. However the comparison between these verses suggests that

חרב נתנה
(kherev nithanah) is a misspelled

חבל נתנה (khevel neteanah) - “give a cord.”

This suggestion assumes that in addition to ל (l) - ר (r) exchange, we have here also a metathesis.