EN
The Masoretic version of Isa 28:1,3 speaks of the “drunkards of Ephraim”, while the Septuagint version mentions the “hirelings of Ephraim”. On the one hand, the difference can be easily explained: unvocalized שכרי אפרים enables a reading here of a word related to שׁכר (to be drunk) as well as to שׂכר (to hire). On the other hand, the scholarly discussion seems to ignore a quite surprising fact that the Greek translator decided to choose the less fitting interpretation of שכרי, considering the context of chap. 28. The paper attemps to ponder over possible reasons.