[b-hebrew] Qadesh of Genesis 20:1
James Christian
jc.bhebrew at googlemail.com
Wed May 12 13:06:31 EDT 2010
Jim,
you didn't answer the question. You just reiterated elements of your theory
for the nth time. I asked if you place the beginning of the historicity in
the flow of a genealogy.
James Christian
On 12 May 2010 18:00, <JimStinehart at aol.com> wrote:
> James Christian:
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> You like to look at original sources. Let’s compare the exact wording concerning key foreign policy events in the Patriarchal narratives to similar wording in the Amarna Letters. In all 4 cases, the underlying situations, though so peculiar and specific as to be unique in human history, are nevertheless essentially identical. Note how even the words used are somewhat similar.
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> 1. Irate father-in-law from Naharim on the upper Euphrates River reaming out his monotheistic son-in-law from far to the west, who had been forced to marry a woman from Naharim that he did not want to marry, for refusing to hand over certain statues that were wanted by the irate father-in-law from Naharim:
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> (a) “[W]hy did you steal my [statues of] gods?" Genesis 31: 30
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> (b) “Now, may my brother [son-in-law] give me the statues….” Amarna Letter EA 29: 136-147
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> 2. Early monotheists’ reaction to the fact that the Amorite state of Amurru was in the process of being sold out to the dreaded Hittites in Year 14:
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> (a) “…the iniquity of the Amorites….” Genesis 15: 16
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> (b) “Say to [the] ruler of Amurru: …If for any reason whatsoever you prefer to do evil, and if you plot evil, treacherous things, then you, together with your entire family, shall die….” Amarna Letter EA 162: 33-38
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> 3. Losing defense of the princeling ruler closely associated with Shechem as to the charge that a son of his had wrongfully consorted with tent-dwelling people/Apiru/Hebrews, as he says to the first historical monotheistic leader of a people, shortly before he is murdered in a sneak attack on behalf of, but not with the approval of, the first historical monotheistic leader of a people:
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> (a) “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife.” Genesis 34: 8
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> (b) “I did not know that my son was consorting with the Apiru [tent-dwellers].” Amarna Letter EA 254: 30-37
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> 4. Key event in Year 14 in the first year, being the decisive year, of the Great Syrian War:
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> (a) “…these kings [including a Hittite king, Tidal] made war with Bera [and with] B-Risha…” Genesis 14: 2
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> (b) “Message of Bieri [and] Message of Abdi-Risha: …‘The troops of Hatti [the Hittites]…set the cities…on fire….’” Amarna Letters EA 174 and EA 363
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> 5. In the 350 Amarna Letters and the entire Hebrew Bible, the only person who has a major problem getting access to contested water wells is a guy named: “Abimelek”:
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> (a) “Message of a-b-mil-ki [Abimelek]: …[T]he ruler of Sidon does not allow me or my people to go to land to fetch wood or to fetch water for drinking." Amarna Letter EA 154 from Abimilki of Sur
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> (b) “And Abimelek [)BYMLK] said to Isaac…. [T]he herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.” Genesis 26: 16, 20-21
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> * * *
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> How can 100% of mainstream university scholars assert that there’s no accurate history in the Patriarchal narratives?
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> “The patriarchal traditions are in no sense history, and the question about the historicity of the patriarchal stories and figures is a question wrongly put.” Claus Westermann, “Genesis: An Introduction” (1984), Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, at p. 135
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> Are those university scholars blind? How can you get a more accurate secular history of Years 12-14 of Akhenaten’s reign than the foregoing? Those Biblical stories aren’t fiction. They’re telling about the historical time period of the historical birth of Judaism. Why should we be surprised that Judaism was born in tough times, when the world seemed about to collapse, and Egypt was hamstrung with a crazy, ineffectual, headstrong pharaoh? Welcome to the Middle East, the historical birthplace of Judaism.
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> Jim Stinehart
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> Evanston, Illinois
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