Why does the Midrash single out these names?

Question

Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:13, expounding Shir HaShirim 2:4 (ודגלו עלי אהבה, literally translated as "his banner is beloved upon me"):

אמר רבי יששכר תינוק שקרא למֹשה מַשה לאהרֹן אהרַן לעפרֹן עפרַן אמר הקב״ה וליגלוגו עלי אהבה

Says R' Yissachar, a child who reads Moshe [as] "Masheh," Aharon [as] "Aharan," Ephron [as] "Ephran," Hashem says of him, "His mispronunciation (ליגלוגו) is beloved upon me."

If he just picked on one random name to botch up, I'd say he was just picking a random name. But he says three names. Seemingly the only common denominator between them is that they all have a cholom that's being pronounced as a patach. However, there are other such names - say, Yaakov being pronounced as Yaakav. Is there something unique about these three names that R' Yissachar picks them out to botch them up?

Answer 1

Both this Midrash and another Midrash here

ודגלו עלי אהבה - א"ר אתא, עם הארץ שקורא לאהבה איבה, כגון ואהבת - ואייבת, אומר הקב"ה ודלוגו עלי אהבה:

are interpreted by some Poskim (see Tur/BY OC 142) to be referring to Kerias Hatorah, and they mean that people who mispronounce these names or words do not need to be corrected. These Midrashim are examples of common misreads (I guess it's easy to mispronounce a Cholam as a Pasach, or was in whatever time and place this Midrash was written). For a fuller treatment of this topic, see Alei Tamar Megillah 4:1.

I would be hard pressed to find three better names in Torah that have Cholams that can be turned easily to Pasachs (according to your reading, which is sourced in the Matnos Kehunah, apparently, and well-known). Offhand, I could think of Noach, but it seems weirder to add a Pasach before the "ach" sound.

(Note: Perhaps Yosef might have also made it? I would note that these three cases have names where the Cholam is next to a Tenuah Ketanah, perhaps it is easier to blend in a Pasach in those places.)