Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT sil.org]

Thank you for your comments, Ian.

I am no Egyptologist and can only report what I have read at second 
hand. But I am referring to the (traditional) period of the Patriarchs 
which is roughly the "Middle Kingdom" and perhaps the Hyksos period in 
Egypt. I have read that the picture of Egyptian life in Genesis 39-50, 
perhaps especially 41:41-57 and 47:13-27, fit well with the general 
picture of life in Egypt in this period, but not with later periods.

As for the agricultural nature of the Pentateuchal laws, I was not 
trying to argue here that the whole Pentateuch was written by Moses, 
but only that it is not implausible that some of it was (Genesis and 
at least parts of the law code). Also, you have given evidence that 
Genesis was re-edited at a later period, including updating of place 
names, but not that it has no basis in sources from the "Middle 
Kingdom" period. According to Genesis, Abraham and other patriarchs 
came from Mesopotamia, so that accounts for them bringing stories of 
Mesopotamian origin - perhaps from a different part of Mesopotamia 
where less polytheistic versions of the same stories were current.

I am not sure how valid your archaeological argument for the small 
size of Jerusalem can be, since much of the site, the Temple area and 
its surroundings, has surely not been excavated. This area would have 
been sufficient for quite a sizeable town as well as the Temple.

Peter Kirk