{"id":80984,"date":"2020-10-06T12:25:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T09:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80984"},"modified":"2020-10-06T12:25:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T09:25:41","slug":"migdol-vs-magdil-the-arcane-world-of-textual-variants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/migdol-vs-magdil-the-arcane-world-of-textual-variants\/","title":{"rendered":"Migdol vs. Magdil: The Arcane World Of Textual Variants"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"80984","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"585","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The many similarities highlight some glaring differences\r\n","content":"

Psalm 18 bears a striking resemblance to 2 Samuel 22. So much of their respective texts is identical, that it is difficult to say which is more perplexing: their overall similarities or the striking differences? The former puzzlement raises a significant question of authorship and redaction, namely, why would David\u2019s \u201csong to the Lord after the Lord had saved him from the hands of all his enemies and from the clutches of Saul\u201d (1) appear in Psalms after already appearing in 2 Samuel?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or, alternatively, why are more psalms\u2014particularly those that bear allusions to events in David\u2019s life\u2014not incorporated into the Books of Samuel? The latter perplexity raises equally significant questions about texts and their recensions, namely, why do two versions of the same song, which are about 80% identical to one another, still have so many and profound differences?<\/span><\/p>\n

Radak\u2014whose habit of comparing parallel biblical texts we have noted in several of our previous remarks in the Early Prophets\u2014is the only medieval exegete to explicitly address this issue, saying: \u201cThis poem is written in the Book of Samuel, although there are some differences in wording, but the substance remains the same,\u201d a comment very similar to his observation on synonymous parallelism: \u201cThe subject is repeated through different words.\u201d He added: \u201c[David] composed this song at the end of his life, when God had given him relief from all his enemies.\u201d Ibn Ezra, too, commented on the circumstances of its composition, saying: \u201cHe [David] composed this song when he affirmed to his men that he would no longer accompany them into battle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of all the differences, large and small, one is outstanding. The concluding verse in both versions displays a textual variant. In 2 Samuel 22:51, the spelling (<\/span>ketiv<\/span><\/em>) is <\/span>mgdil<\/span><\/em>, while the pronunciation (<\/span>keri<\/span><\/em>) is <\/span>migdol<\/span><\/em>. In Psalms 18:51, it is reversed; written <\/span>m-g-d-l<\/span><\/em> and meant to be pronounced <\/span>magdil<\/span><\/em>* (suggesting that the unvocalized spelling would be pronounced <\/span>migdol<\/span><\/em>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This distinction plays itself out in the incorporation of this verse in the penultimate paragraph of the grace after meals (<\/span>birkat ha-mazon<\/span><\/em>). The printed instructions in nearly every siddur stipulate that the word is to be pronounced <\/span>magdil<\/span><\/em> on weekdays and <\/span>migdol<\/span><\/em> on Shabbat. However, there are those who maintain that its pronunciation should always follow that of Psalms (<\/span>magdil<\/span><\/em>), and that that the assignment of the alternative (<\/span>migdol<\/span><\/em>) to Shabbat (\u05d1\u05e9\u05d1\u05ea – <\/span>Be-ShaBat<\/span><\/em>) is a misreading of a marginal note that merely indicated its textual origin: in 2 Samuel (<\/span>Shmuel Bet<\/span><\/em>; abbreviated \u05d1\u05e9\u201d\u05d1 <\/span>B-Sh-B<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

*This final note follows the Masoretic text of the authoritative Aleppo Codex. Printed editions may differ.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: The Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 22:51, in the Leningrad Codex (1008) \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":80985,"id":80985,"title":"ps18-migdol","filename":"ps18-migdol.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/migdol-vs-magdil-the-arcane-world-of-textual-variants\/ps18-migdol\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps18-migdol","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80984,"date":"2020-10-06 09:24:01","modified":"2020-10-06 09:24:14","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1098,"height":428,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-300x117.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":117,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-768x299.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":299,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-1024x399.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":399,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","1536x1536-width":1098,"1536x1536-height":428,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","2048x2048-width":1098,"2048x2048-height":428,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","post_full_size-width":1098,"post_full_size-height":428,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-1077x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1077,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Migdol vs. Magdil: The Arcane World Of Textual Variants","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The many similarities highlight some glaring differences","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":80985,"id":80985,"title":"ps18-migdol","filename":"ps18-migdol.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/migdol-vs-magdil-the-arcane-world-of-textual-variants\/ps18-migdol\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps18-migdol","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80984,"date":"2020-10-06 09:24:01","modified":"2020-10-06 09:24:14","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1098,"height":428,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-300x117.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":117,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-768x299.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":299,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-1024x399.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":399,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","1536x1536-width":1098,"1536x1536-height":428,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","2048x2048-width":1098,"2048x2048-height":428,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol.jpg","post_full_size-width":1098,"post_full_size-height":428,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps18-migdol-1077x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1077,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80984"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80986,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80984\/revisions\/80986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}