380 E.D. Reymond yçjb ˆyjbçmd lq atçya ykalm tyrçm rtbw . . . and after the camp of fiery angels (there was) a sound of those praising quietly (16). ˚tym l[ qwtç qndya Sigh quietly over your dead . . .(17). The meaning of these Aramaic phrases seems clear. In the second passage, the verb qtç is used in hendiadys with another coordinate or appositional verb, as it is in other texts, like the Palestinian Targums to Exod 14,13 and 15,3 (18). It should be clear that the roots in Aramaic h≥- π-y and π-t-q are primarily associated with lack of sound but are used to modify verbs associated with speech or verbal expression. Neither in the Targum to Ezekiel, nor in the other passages cited above does one sense a degree of irony or double entendre. It seems, rather, that qualifying a noun or verb (which represents a sound) with another word connected with silence is one way of indicating a quiet sound or voice; it does not produce an oxymoron (19). One might still wonder, however, if these post-biblical Hebrew and Aramaic usages derive from a misreading of the original Biblical Hebrew idiom; I think this is unlikely, since the post-biblical usages are attested rather broadly in the Babylonian Talmud, in the Targums, and in Syriac literature. (16) The Aramaic text is taken from A. SPERBER, The Bible in Aramaic (Leiden 1992) II, 261. Cited approvingly by ALLISON, “Silence of Angels”, 196, G. Vermes’ translation of this verse (“those who bless silently”) assumes a literal understanding of the words, but this seems to ignore the Aramaic idiom –– G. VERMES, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Harmondsworth 21975) 210-211. D.J. HARRINGTON – A.J. SALDARINI, Targum Jonathan of the Former Prophets. Introduction, Translation, and Notes (The Aramaic Bible 10; Edinburgh 1987) 254, translate yçjb “softly”, but derive the word from “a root meaning ‘stir (a pot)’”. Presumably, the root they refer to is çjb. As C.A. DRAY, Translation and Interpretation in the Targum to the Books of Kings (Studies in the Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture 5; Leiden 2006) 63, has recently remarked, this etymology for yçjb seems unlikely. Like her, I think that the phrase is rather clearly derived from h≥-π-y. (17) The Aramaic text is taken from SPERBER, The Bible in Aramaic, III, 322. (18) See M.L. KLEIN, Genizah Manuscripts of Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch (Cincinnati 1986) I, 222-225, 242-243. Although Klein translates the phrases wqwtç wmwq and wqwtçw wmwq literally (“arise, be still” and “arise and be still”), he notes in relation to the first that “‘stand quietly’ might be better” (ibid., II, 62). (19) In English, therefore, the best word to translate these Hebrew and Aramaic words is not “silence”, which is more closely associated with complete lack of sound or motion, but rather with “quiet”, which more often is applied to the absence of noise or agitated movement.