Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for taking time for this in the midst of your busy schedule. 
I also have little time for this just at the moment.

Let me just say that I am not trying to argue for a naive reading of 
the texts as if everything was fine. I see the differences between 
Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Pentateuch. I am not sure how to 
account for them, but I am sure that there are explanations other than 
that the whole Pentateuch is Josianic or later.

See also some specific answers below.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re[5]: Ethics of our Profession
Author:  <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il> at Internet
Date:    17/02/2000 10:35

<snip>

[JSafren] Then how do you explain the "Levite of a Judahite clan" in Jud. 
17?...

PK: Obviously "Levite" was at that time something other than a purely 
ethnic label. That doesn't mean it was not originally an ethnic label.

 ...How do you explain Israelite kings offering sacrifices at a time when 
there was already an official priesthood? How do you explain David's sons 
being priests?...

PK: Two alternatives. One harmonising interpretation, not very 
convincing to me, is that the kings were just bringing the animals to 
the official priests according to the rules in Leviticus, and that 
KOHEN has another meaning in 2 Samuel 8:18 (e.g. "royal advisers" in 
NIV). The other is that there was indeed a priest-king tradition (as 
in Psalm 110), perhaps alongside an older priestly line represented by 
Zadok. The first tradition was partly suppressed by later redactors.

<snip>