Psalms 80:13

the wood. forest. The Hebrew word for forest here (miyya'ar), has the letter Ayin suspended (see note on Judges 18:30). This is the second of four such suspended letters (the other two being Job 38:13; Job 38:15). Read with this letter, the word means "forest"; without it, and with an Aleph instead, it is miyy 'a r, "river". The ancient Jewish interpreters took this suspended letter as denoting that, when innocent, Israel would be assailed only by. power weak as. river animal; but, when guilty, it would be destroyed by. power as strong as. land animal. Until the Roman power arose (whose military ensign was the "boar"), it was understood as "river" (meaning Egypt); but afterward the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulg, read "forest".