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  • From: Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: An Additional Thought on Deut 32:7-9
  • Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 12:25:33 -0500 (EST)



I have two problems with this:

1) There is no MS support for the reading "sons of El" in this verse,
as Dave Washburn has reminded us. LXX of course has "theos" and the
one Qumran MS which has the whole word reads )LWHYM (both = "god" with
a small "g" ??). Anyway, if the last word of verse 8 is another
reference to the subject, why is this not just a pronoun reference
i.e. BFNFYW rather than B:N"Y )LWHYM/)L?

2) And a new point re "inheritance". We have had problems with
translating this NXL root in Deuteronomy especially (where it is used
mostly of Israel receiving the land of Canaan as an "inheritance").
The problem is that the English "inheritance" is usually something
received by the heir only after the death of the previous owner. The
analogy of fathers and sons which Lloyd gives below is clearly based
on this understanding of "inheritance". The problem is that this sense
does not fit the context either in this passage or elsewhere in
Deuteronomy; for there is no question of God dying! If this basic part
of the analogy is missing, the rest is invalidated. We have had to
translate the NXL root by words meaning "property, real estate" rather
than "inheritance". I think the same applies in this passage as
elsewhere in Deuteronomy.

In the wider context, at least, surely `Elyon the father and creator
is YHWH (v.6), identified also with El (v.3-4). On this basis one
might argue that YHWH allocated the nations to various gods (which are
not really gods at all, LO) ):ELOAH. v.17) but (KIY meaning "except"
in v.9??) kept for himself the one nation Israel. Surely something
like this was the understanding of the writer of this beautifully
crafted poem, even if he did make use of fragments expressing an
earlier and rather different theology.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: An Additional Thought on Deut 32:7-9
Author: barre AT c-zone.net at internet
Date: 22/01/1999 17:17


It seems to me that the controlling image in this passage is that of a father
giving his sons an inheritance. Verse 9 explicitly states that Yahweh
received
Jacob as his inheritance. The preceding verse mentions many nations have
been
created to be an inheritance for others besides Yahweh. Thus, we should find
a
parallel group for Yahweh to receive this other nations. That would be,
reading
with the LXX, the sons of El. This would then point to El as being the giver
of
the inheritances, the father of the sons. Fathers gives sons an inheritance.
Thus, Elyon must be the father who gives the inheritances to his sons which
make
s
him the same as El. So,
El Elyon=the father who creates and gives the inheritance
The nations including Jacob=the inheritance itself
Yahweh and all the other sons of El=the recipients of the inheritance.

The text also makes the point that the number of nations created and given as
an
inheritance correspond to the number of Elyon's sons.

This argument is advanced on the basis of finding that my interpretation of
the
texts offers one in which the imagery of inheritance is coherent.

Lloyd Barre

Lloyd M. Barre, Ph.D.

barre AT c-zone.net
http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/AncientIsrael


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