Footnote

“And as their witnesses.” Heb., weʽe·dheh·hemʹ. The next word (hemʹmah, “they [are]”) is marked with extraordinary points by the Sopherim, indicating that it should be canceled because of being merely a dittography of the pronominal ending (hem, “their”) of the word preceding it. The pro­noun for “they” is also absent in Sy. Accordingly the passage should read: “and as their witnesses they [the darlings; the carved images] see nothing and know nothing, in order that they [the formers of the carved image] may be ashamed.” Ignoring the extraordinary points, the passage would read: “and they [Heb., hemʹmah] are their witnesses that see nothing and that know nothing, in order that they may be ashamed.” See App 2A.