Biblica_2:Layout 1 21-11-2011 13:02 Pagina 444 444 ANNE-FRANÇOISE LOISEAU SUMMARY Why has the Aramaic translator rendered the mysterious “sound of sub- dued silence” (hqd hmmd lwq) in 1 Kgs 19:12 by “the sound of those (= the angels) praising quietly” (yvxb !yxbvmd lq)? It can be that, with the root ~md “to be silent, quiet” in front of him, the meturguman has thought of the syn- onym I xbv “to calm” and from there has “skipped” to the (mainly Aramaic) homonym II xbv “to praise”. This connection between ~md and I xbv + II xbv would thus explain the Aramaic translation, which in its own peculiar way stays quite close to its Hebrew model.