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  • From: Noam Eitan <noameitan AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Umberto Cassuto
  • Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 12:09:04 -0800 (PST)

> I am doing some research on Exodus and I would like to know whether Umberto
> Cassuto's commentary on Exodus is considered dated?

I am not an expert in this field, but his book on Genesis hit me like a
lightning bolt when I first read it 30 years ago. I am now reading his book
on Exodus. He opens up the text and indicates very obvious structures,
patterns of repetition (important words repeating a fixed number of times),
and all kind of internal links. I believe he is the one who came up with the
rule that solves the so-called issue of “two creation stories”, namely, that
the narrator starts with a general exposition and later revisits the story in
detail. Lately I found other examples of this in the text. His linguistic
sensitivity is IMO unparalleled. Most of his insights about the text are on a
common sense level (he writes he deals only with ‘pshat’), and I often
wondered how come none of his predecessors picked up on his simple
‘revelations’ before him. I think his mastery of Biblical Hebrew is superior
to that of the greatest lights of Jewish Biblical commentators. Pardon my
writing that, but I do have a
soft spot for him, ever since that day 30 years ago that my TANAKH teacher
at high school couldn’t believe I was reading him, and our neighborhood Rabbi
was angry at me for same. OTOH I realize now that his explanation to Genesis
1:1 (Bereshit – Bereshit of what?) points out the problem, but does not
answer his own question.)


Noam Eitan from Brooklyn




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>From kwrandolph AT email.com Sat Jan 31 02:24:05 2004
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From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
To: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 02:24:04 -0500
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aegean Ethnic determinatives on Philistineguardsof
Judean kings in Kings and Samuel?
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Dora:

In 1 Samuel 22:2, before Samuel died and well before David went to Ziklag,
David’s troop had grown to 400 men. With this group he fought against a
Philistine incursion. By 1 Samuel 25:13, or shortly after Samuel’s death,
David’s army had already reached 600 men. Then, in 1 Samuel 27:2 David led
his 600 men to live in Ziklag. These men formed the core of David’s army.

These were seasoned warriers before they reached Ziklag. It could be that
)KY$ outfitted them as hoplites when he made them part of his body guard,
hence how the term came into Hebrew.

As for the term being Greek, this was during the Linear B period—is there any
linear B reference to hoplite? I haven’t heard of any. If not, when was the
first mention in Greek? Homer? Later?

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>

> Karl:
>
> Where in 1 Samuel is it that it says they were Israelis? I think Baruch
> Halpern missed it.
>
> Yours,
> Dora Smith
> Austin, Texas
> villandra AT austin.rr.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
>
>
> > Dora:
> >
> > What a wierd "history".
> >
> > 1 Samuel does give where David's original 600 troops came from. They were
> Israelis.
>

--
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