Psalm 37/Notes/Textual.vv. 1-2.80846

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A number of witnesses read a conjunction before the second אַל (v. 1b), including the LXX (μηδε), the Peshitta (ܘܠܐ), Jerome iuxta Hebr (neque), the Targum (ולא), and some 20 mss listed by Kennicott. The conjunction feels natural (cf. Ps 6:2), and this naturalness might explain how it entered the textual tradition as a secondary reading. Throughout the psalm, the versions show a tendency to add coordinating conjunctions at the beginnings of b-lines (cf. vv. 1, 25, 31, 38, 40), probably to facilitate reading. Furthermore, the alef as the first letter of the b-line strengthens the acrostic nature of the psalm (cf. Ruiz 2009, 51). (On the other hand, scribes might have removed the conjunction in harmonization to Prov 24:19—אַל־תִּתְחַ֥ר בַּמְּרֵעִ֑ים אַל־תְּ֝קַנֵּ֗א בָּרְשָׁעִֽים).