Note 868 — Chapter XXI

By inserting איפה after מה in ver. 5, and deleting היוצאת … ויאמר in ver. 6, Wellhausen secures the more concise text: And see what this bushel is that comes forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, That is the evil of the people in the whole land. But to reduce the redundancies of the Visions is to delete the most characteristic feature of their style. Besides, Wellhausen’s result gives no sense. The prophet would not be asked to see what a bushel is: the angel is there to tell him this. So Wellhausen in his translation has to omit the מה of ver. 5, while telling us in his note to replace האיפה after it. His emendation is, therefore, to be rejected. Nowack, however, accepts it.