This study seeks to address a small yet significant difference between the Masoretic Text (MT) of Jer 31:32 (corresponding to 38:32 in the Septuagint [LXX]) and its ancient Greek translation. The aim is to stimulate scholarly discourse by proposing a new hypothesis concerning the original Hebrew Vorlage underlying the Greek term ἠμέλησα in the Septuagint translation of Jer 31:32. The suggestion put forth here is speculative, intended to provoke reflection and further debate regarding the textual history and theological development of this passage.

I argue that the translator of Jer 31:31-32 might have seen a word on the scroll he worked from, that he interpreted – owing to the similarities between the letters bet ( ב) and mem ( מ) during the Hellenistic period – as "ma'alti" instead of "ba'alti".