[b-hebrew] Hebron: The Linguistic Search for the Patriarchs' Bronze Age "Hebron"
dwashbur at nyx.net
dwashbur at nyx.net
Thu Oct 9 15:38:57 EDT 2008
On 10 Oct 2008 at 7:04, George Athas wrote:
> Secondly, if "Hebron" as a proper noun does not appear until late, all that tells us is that the author of the patriarchal narratives lived at a late date -- certainly much later than the Amarna period.
This is true even if we allow for some later modification of place names, such as "Dan" in
Gen 14:14, which wasn't called Dan until the time of the judges. I am inclined to agree with
Jim that the patriarchal narratives are probably based on even more ancient records, and
with Karl I believe that the bulk of the Pentateuch was written by Moses, but we have to
allow for modifications by later editors, especially in the case of place names. A good
modern example would be the whole Leningrad/St. Petersburg matter in Russia. If the
name Hebron doesn't appear south of Jerusalem until later, then either the author or an
editor of the narratives changed the place-name in the text to Hebron so readers would
have a better idea of where the events took place. All other things being equal, it's a much
simpler explanation.
Dave Washburn
"I'll hold the nail. And when I nod my head, you hit it with the hammer."
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