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b-hebrew - Re[2]: Nomadic Scribes? (John Ronning)

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  • From: Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re[2]: Nomadic Scribes? (John Ronning)
  • Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 11:41:42 -0500 (EST)




Ian wrote:

"While allowing some leeway of inaccuracy through transmission and faulty
memory, errors such as those concerning the Philistines provide a
*sufficient condition* to refute claims of the texts having been written as
relatively contemporary accounts and preserved through the millennium."

and later:

"The Philistines does not seem to be an arguing point. It can't be
explained away by facile approaches such as i) it was writer's licence, ii)
there were Philistine precursors, iii) the archaeological evidence is
wrong, or iv) there was another bunch called Philistines. Ignoring the
Philistines is like the officer ignoring his being black."

Bringing in an argument from race is irrelevant and potentially offensive.
Don't forget you don't know the skin colour of other b-hebrew members.

A better analogy would be from a court case. You are presenting the case
that Genesis is late (post-exilic? post-Maccabean?). One of your chief
witnesses is this Philistine reference. The defenders of Genesis have found
several good reasons to doubt the reliability of this witness - you mention
six above (four numbered plus "inaccuracy through transmission and faulty
memory"), I could add the possibility of deliberate replacement by a
copyist of an obsolete name by a current one. To an unbiased jury this
would, I think, be enough to cast significant doubt on this witness. So I
think if (as the first extract suggests) this is the only evidence you want
to present concerning Genesis, I think the jury would not accept that you
have presented your case "beyond reasonable doubt".

Peter Kirk



  • Re[2]: Nomadic Scribes? (John Ronning), Peter_Kirk, 01/19/1999

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