Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG]

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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