[b-hebrew] barak (bless? curse?) in the Book of Job
Harold Holmyard
hholmyard3 at earthlink.net
Wed Jan 28 13:29:48 EST 2009
John,
> Thanks for all the answers, gang.
>
> What about the use of BRK in 1 Kings 21:10. Parkhurst and others have argued that it means "bless" in this context, and that the blasphemy committed involved blessing false gods (elohim) and Molech. Does this interpretation have any merit?
>
HH: As the text stands, with the Masoretic pointing, it is "blessed God
and king." Since "blessed" is inappropriate, it is a scribal emendation
for the same reason as in Job, to avoid the offensive idea of cursing
God. Also, there is no mention of false gods in the context, so elohim
should have its normal reference to the Lord. And since Molech is a
false god, it would be redundant to say that Naboth blessed false gods
and Molech. Since the critical apparatus offers nothing different for
"king," the idea that the pointing should indicate Molech is based on
speculation about a pre-Masoretic text.
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
>
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