Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Carl S. Ehrlich" <ehrlich AT YorkU.CA>]

Bryan Racine wrote concerning the paroket: "It bars the human race from a 
face-to-face communion with the Lord.  It symbolizes the harsh judgment of 
separation from God that is upon us all due to our sinfulness."

This appears to be an interpretation that imposes the later Christian 
doctrine 
of original sin on the text of the Hebrew Bible. I would be much more 
comfortable with an interpretation that understands cultic/spatial barriers 
such as the paroket within the context of biblical/priestly notions of 
holiness 
in the sense of separation.

Carl Ehrlich
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Name: Prof. Carl S. Ehrlich
      Director of Undergraduate Study
      Division of Humanities
      York University-Toronto
E-mail: Carl S. Ehrlich <ehrlich AT yorku.ca>
Fax:  1-416-736-5460
Tel.: 1-416-736-2100 ext. 77021
Date: 07/10/98
Time: 10:39:53
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