The unglossed headword is the neuter noun
a)/llagma, defined in LSJ as 'that which is taken or given in exchange'. Adler notes that in the quotation given -- from
Psalm 43.13
LXX -- ms. M transmits its dative plural; nevertheless she prints (from ms. A, etc.)
a)lala/gmasin, the dative plural of
a)la/lagma ('outcry'), as translated here. Besides that discrepancy, on which see further below, another arises with the pronoun used: 'their' (
au)tw=n) or 'our' (
h(mw=n).
In using
a)lala/gmasin for
a)lla/gmasin, the Suda strays from the original Hebrew במחיריהם
bimḥīrehem ("from the sale of them," now appearing as the
Septuagint's
e)n toi=s a)lala/gmasin au)tw=n) (Brenton, 723) from מחיר
meḥīr (price) (Brown, Driver, Briggs (BDB) 5 64). The use of
a)lala/gmasin in the Suda digest signals a
Septuagint error in which the translator misread במחיריהם
bimḥīrēhem for the augmented masculine plural participle במריעים
bimrīʿīm (from רוע
rūʿa: "raise a shout, cry out in distress" (BDB, 929)) or "those who cried out." Neither older lexicons (e.g. Robinson, 29: although NT-oriented, Robinson presents
LXX-OT Hebrew comparatives) nor the most recent (e.g. Lust Pt I, 18) address this occurrence. See Ezra 3:13 for מריעים
merīʿīm ("those who shouted") (Kohlenberger, Vol 3, 193). The Suda attempts to salve this mistake. The Suda compiler--either familiar with the Hebrew or having derived the information from another source--asserts the correct,
meḥīr-compliant headword while preserving the timeworn, now-sanctified error. Expectedly, the Suda's approach values judicious glossing over direct challenge to an established reference--especially so in the case of a biblical item. For
a)/llagma as a "negative turn of fortune/misfortune," see
Sirach (
Ecclesiasticus) 2:4 (Brenton:
Apocrypha, 75):
e)n a)lla/gmasi tapeinw/sews sou makroqu/mhson: "In misfortune, bear patiently your humiliation." (Editor's translation)
1This plh=qos represents the Hebrew רבּית ribbita ("you gained") from the Pi'el (strong verb form) of רבה rabah ("be/become much") (BDB, 915). By this apparatus, plh=qos is equated in the Septuagint and the Suda to the transferred sense of "gain/profit" (whereas the fiscal sense is used in the Hebrew psalm). ↩2The thrust of a)lala/gmasin, as with its Hebrew synonym (see above), is "crying out" (not "crying" in the sense of mere "weeping")--for which see LSJ; Lust Pt I, 18; Danker,41. However, note also the use of klai/w and a)lala/zw in Mark 5:38--klai/ontas kai\ a)lala/zontas polla/ ("weeping and wailing loudly") (Farstad, 139-40) that coordinates the complementing and even overlapping senses of these verbs (see LSJ).