Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>]

Dr. Mattfield's indicators for dating Genesis are accepted by all Bible
scholars not adhering to a fundamentalistic view. In other words, you
have to start from an agnostic point of view, not a preconceived set of
beliefs.

I found a few minor errors. Mattfield wrote:

"Heth, the Hittites is derived from Assyrian "Khatte," a designation of
the
later Persian Abar Nahar region which includes Canaan (p.407, Redford)"

Hatti, as a term for Syro-Palestine, is used in Neo-Assyrian
inscriptions, and is not from the Persian Period..
BTW, people with Hittite, or at least Indo-European names appear in
Canaan in the 14th century BCE El Amarna Inscriptions, e.g. Shuwardata.
.

Mattfield wrote:

"Serug is attested in 7th century BCE in texts from the Harran area as
uru
sa-ru-gi (p.85, Hess)."

I found Serugi mentioned in Middle Assyrian epigraphy (12th century BCE
and earlier).

Also, I don't think one can date Genesis as late as is claimed by
Redford and others. One reason arises from the material cited by
Mattfield: Though Media is mentioned in Genesis, Persia is not.

Had Genesis been written in the 5th century or later, one would have
expected mention of Persia in the List of Nations in Gen. 10. Since
Persia arises in the mid 6th century BCE, therefore Genesis, or at least
Gen. 10, must predate the mid-6th century BCE.
Sincerely,
--
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
44905 Beit Berl Post Office
Israel