Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ruthy & Baruch" <alster AT comandcom.com>]

Shalom!

I wrote:
> > However, there is at least one great difference between a-Tell and the
Ai
> > narrative that puts this theory in doubt: the size of Ai according to
> > Joshua.  Both in chap. 7, and in chap. 9, Ai is referred to as a small
> > city, smaller than Gibeon or Jericho.  However, a-Tell is one of the
> > largest tells in Israel.  So we cannot say that a later writer used the
> > conquest story to explain the ancient ruin.

to which NPL responded:
>       How??? The Israelite force that is beaten off counts 30.000 men
> (Josh 8:3), the killing of people in Ai count 12.000 persons (Josh 8:25).
I
> will say that this counterargument has little to do with the narrative,
some
> may say eisegesis and not exegesis.

But in 7:3, the Israelites thought they could conquer Ai with 2 or 3
thousand men.

NPL:
 And there is nothing in Josh 9 about the
> size of Gibeon.

Sorry, of course you're right.  It's in 10:2.


NPL:
>       The only thing that would probably be needed is to check
> Finkelstein's Samaria survey to see whether he has been around the tell
> proposed as Ai during this exchange.

I'll check as soon as I can get to a library, God willing, sometime this
week.

Kol Tuv,
Baruch Alster
Kochav Ya`akov, Israel