Biblica_1_Layout 1 20/01/12 11:44 Pagina 500 500 JOHN MAKUJINA ditional information to complete its meaning — whereas the other op- tions do: “loaded (with young)”, “loaded (with fat)”, “loaded (with the harvest)”, “loaded (with booty)”. Furthermore, Aramaic influence should be entertained as a realistic possibility, since Ps 144 (esp. vv. 12- 15) betrays late vocabulary as well as other potential Aramaisms 73. Likewise, the bovine definition of wnypwla creates fewer complica- tions than its martial alternatives (see above), along with being the best attested in the translation history of this verse 74. Moreover, the problems that wnytbxrb hxwc present to an exclu- sively pastoral orientation nearly vanish, as a consequence of this suggestion. Both the normal (urban) meaning of bxr and the in- tensity of hxwc fall entirely in line with the picture of a city under- going captivity 75. Admittedly, the normal semantic and lexical coupling of #wx and bxr, “street” and “plaza”, would be reduced to lexical alone, since the collocation now yields “fields” and “plazas”. Although this does involve an idiomatic hapax, as a de- viation it is comparatively conservative and can only be avoided by assigning bxr a rural nuance (see above). Lastly, the objection that the loss of livestock seems trivial against the greater existential threat that captivity represents, over- looks the fact that the actual priorities of herdsman facing exile have no place in this highly rhapsodic illustration of pastoral felicity. 3. Previous Forays in the Direction of this Proposal Certain facets of this proposal have been anticipated in the ex- egetical history of this verse. (In each case the comments are brief 73 BOOIJ, “Psalm 144”, 173-174; BROYLES, Psalms, 502, 503; HOLTZ, “Thematic Unity of Psalm cxliv”, 371, 380; M. BRETTLER, “Images of YHWH the Warrior in Psalms”, Semeia 61 (1993) 152; C.B. HOUK, “Syllables and Psalms: A Statistical Linguistic Analysis”, JSOT 14 (1979) 58; KIRKPATRICK, Psalms, 812. See !z, “sort”, v. 13, from the Old Persian, zana. HALOT 274, 1866; BDB 275. See especially the Old Persian adjective vispazana, “con- taining all (kinds) of men”. R.G. KENT, Old Persian Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (AOS 33; New Haven, CT 1953) 208, 211. 74 Cfr., ZIEGLER, “Ps 144”, 194, 196; TOURNAY, “Le Psaume CXLIV”, 521. See also E.S. GERSTENBERGER, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations (FOTL 15; Grand Rapids, MI 2001) 430-431. 75 Cfr., ZIEGLER, “Ps 144”, 191-192. For hxwc, see Jer 46,12.