Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

>
> This doesn't reflect the situation as I understand it. Jerusalem had
> suffered a number of sieges. Remember for example Dan11:14, and note the
> importance of the walls in Ben Sira50:2-4. I think classical authors allude
> to various sieges. There were many occasions in which Jerusalemites had to
> defend themselves.

Siege isn't the same as direct attack.

> It seems extremely difficult (at least to me) that the problem hadn't been
> posed previously had the sabbath been an established cultic day prior to
> the writing of the Maccabees texts.
>
> >Looked at in that context, it is not at all surprising, at
> >least to me, that the question of how to reconcile the Sabbath with 
> >military
> >necessity, not having been actively presented for four centuries, did not
> >find a ready answer.
> >
> >> So if sabbath originally meant full moon to the Hebrews, it would
> >> follow new moons in a list of cultic occasions, but if it meant the 
> >> seventh
> >> day, being more frequent one would expect it to precede new moons. We get
> >> late works such as Chr which gives Sabbaths, New Moons and Feast days. If
> >> the logic here is correct then the seventh day sabbath is a good dating
> >> indication for relative chronology of the development of biblical texts.

What, though, is the connection between Sabbath and New Moon? Is there a 
direct link you
can find?

Best regards,
George Athas
 Dept of Semitic Studies,
 University of Sydney
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