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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] exodus, dating of linguistics

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Michael Abernathy <mabernathy AT isot.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] exodus, dating of linguistics
  • Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 05:07:55 -0700

On 28/05/2004 23:24, Michael Abernathy wrote:

Just for the sake of discussion, I have a question for the group. Assuming
that the Exodus actually occurred as it is described in the Bible and that it
was recorded by someone about the time of Joshua, what linguistic evidence
would we expect to find in the Scriptures?
I should think that the strongest evidence would be in those passages which
have been miscopied by a later scribe due to some change in the language that
obscurred the meaning.
Has anyone detailed the differences in the Hebrew language from a historical
perspective?


Well, despite what Walter claims, it is possible to reconstruct, at least speculatively, some of the history of Hebrew before the 10th century BCE. For example, it can be compared with Ugaritic and Amarna texts, admittedly not written by Israelites but indicating the state of the NW Semitic languages at that time.

As for the kinds of errors which Michael is looking for, one alleged example is that 'elep, as used in Numbers 1:21,23,25...41 etc apparently with the meaning "thousand", originally meant something like "captain". Thus Reuben would consist of 46 captains and 500 men. This implies that totals like Numbers 1:46 were added, or at least corrected, by scribes who misunderstood "captain" as meaning "thousand". As a consequence the number of people who left Egypt and wandered through the wilderness is reduced to an allegedly more feasible number. I'm not saying that I support this interpretation, just that it has been proposed and depends on linguistic change and later scribal misinterpretation.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





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