Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <cctr114 AT its.canterbury.ac.nz>]

I wrote:-
>>You've brought up Kuntillat Ajrud many times, but given what the texts
>>tell us about that time it would be very strange if we never found
>>evidence like this. The texts tell us that the exclusive worship of
>>YHWH alone was a minority position. Time and time again the texts tell
>>us the majority were polytheistic. One only need read Jeremiah to
>>realize how firmly entrenched polytheism was in Judah.

Ian replied:-

>What are your eye witnesses to the existence of that minority position,
>Bill? (The biblical texts cannot be given eye-witness status, as we can
>only get back to the second century BCE with what we have.)

Ian,

If you read my statement you would have seen that I did not claim that
there were any eye-witnesses. I was questioning your use of Kuntillat
Ajrud as archeological proof of the non-existance of monotheism in
early Israel. I am aware that earliest physical remains of these texts
date to some centuries after the events to which they purport to
record.  The texts, and I suggested the book of Jeremiah because I've
been working through it, tell us that polytheism was common. While they
do not tell us explicitly that some people thought YWHW had a consort,
it does not surprise me that some did.

I am not arguing for a blind acceptance of the total historical
accuracy of the texts, but they certainly appear to me to have 
a greater historical memory than you, and some others on this list,
are willing to concede. My point about Kuntillat Ajrud is that it
seems consistent with what the texts tell us about that period,
hence, to me, it is further evidence of their historical core.

If you're going pick on my use of the book of Jeremiah, I am aware of
the differences between the LXX and the Masoretic text. But it seems to
me that if the book were composed centuries after the facts, that it
would be next to impossible to correctly get names like Baruch ben
Neriah and others to match clay seals which were buried at the time and
only recently recovered. Again, to me, evidence of a clear historical
core.

Bill Rea, Information Technology Services, University of Canterbury  \_ 
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