Biblica_1_Layout 1 20/01/12 11:44 Pagina 496 496 JOHN MAKUJINA owners thereof” 61. A related but more adventurous proposal comes from M. Girard, who understands tacwy !ya and #rp-!ya as signifying a lack of aggression in the cattle when they bring produce to the market- place 62. Even more exotic is M. Cimosa’s version, which takes the same terms as describing prosperity in the following manner: the mer- chandise, loaded on cattle, will find it difficult to penetrate the hustle and bustle of shoppers in the marketplace 63. The question of whether or not missing livestock would induce the type of plaintive cries recorded in v. 14c (hxwc), nevertheless, re- mains 64. It could be answered in the affirmative, if the psalmist had in mind runaway cattle on a scale comparable to the widespread de- vastation of Isa 24,11 and Jer 14,2, where hxwc also surfaces. (Out- cries of distress are certainly fitting for cattlemen who have just lost everything [Jer 25,36].) An escape of this magnitude, however, is un- likely and unprecedented in the biblical tradition, although Judg 6,3- 4 and Job 1,14-15.17 testify that heavy losses by raid could certainly occur. Furthermore, the solution of herd depredation, whether by es- cape or robbery, does not have the luxury of direct lexical parallels or corresponding word pairs — vis-à-vis the martial option 65. 61 GILL, Gill’s Commentary, 407. Likewise JACQUET, Psaumes 101 à 150, 685; EWALD, Die poetischen Bücher, 417, 418; KISSANE, Psalms, 317. Cfr., Exod 21,37; 22,3.9.11; Deut 28,31; Jud 6,3-4; Job 1,14-15.17. 62 GIRARD, Psaumes 101-150, 490-491. 63 CIMOSA, Salmi 101-150, 333. 64 Such grief over miscarrying livestock seems even less appropriate. The prospect that hxwc refers to the “gémissements des bêtes” (Jacquet) or is the personification of animals lamenting (Allen) — on the witness of Joel 1,18, where animals “groan” (hx'n>a,n) — seems to me to be the least plausible of the options. Although additional examples of personification could be cited (Zech 11,2; Jonah 3,8), they scarcely improve the prospects of Allen’s proposal. JACQUET, Psaumes 101 à 150, 685; ALLEN, Psalms 101-150, 360. Extrabiblical evidence does, however, exist. The Akkadian as£u‚ means 65 “escape” in the following clause, “on account of the eight sheep which es- caped from the fold”, YOS 8 1:5. CAD A I.2:359. Also suggestive is the following passage from the Mishnah, “If the fold was broken through [hcrpn] in the night, or if robbers broke into it [hwcrpX], and the flock came out [hacyw] and caused damage, he is not culpable” (m. B. Qam. 6:1). H. DANBY, The Mishnah. Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes (London 1933) 339. Bracketed material was added by the present author.