Psalm 78/Notes/Grammar.V. 50.51497

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v. 50 – Note that a number of ancient versions read "death" for the MT's לַדֶּ֥בֶר "pestilence."[1] A grammatical alternative has not been provided, however, as it is not clear how this could arise from a textual issue, and is, in all likelihood, interpretive.[2]

  1. ↑ See the LXX (εἰς θάνατον); some witnesses to TgPs (למותא; though למותנא also attested) and the Syr. (ܠܡܘܬܐ); the revisers, on the other hand, all contain "to pestilence" (τῷ λοιμῷ; Field, 228; https://septuaginta.uni-goettingen.de/hexapla/), as does Jerome's Hebr., pesti.
  2. ↑ In the Aramaic and Syriac texts, the issue may have arisen from copyists misunderstanding mwtˀ "death" for mwtnˀ "plague, pestilence," and it therefore an inner-Aramaic error.