Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>]

Earlier discussions on this list pointed out differences in the Hebrew being
used between the "Primary History" (Genesis to 2 Kings) and that of
Chronicles (1 &2). I would like to make some observations form my research
on dating the biblical texts.

As all know by now from earlier postings to this list, I am interested in
establishing dates for the biblical texts by identifying places mentioned in
the bible and noting when they came into existence according to the findings
of modern Archaeology.

I have found what I believe to be a possible historical marker for the
dating of Chronicles, the mention of Tadmor (2 Chr.8:4).
The Chronicler ascribed the foundation of Tadmor to Solomon along with his
mighty chariot cities. Tadmor is mentioned in Assyrian annals, but to date,
excavations have failed to turn up any structures earlier than the first
century BCE when the present ruined city was founded as a Late Hellenistic
creation. The excavators have sought to explain the absence of any earlier
structures by positing that prior to the foundation of the Late Hellenistic
city, the area served only as a place of nomadic tent settlements, drawn
periodically to the area by the springs.

As the Chronicler seems to have envisioned Tadmor as a creation of Solomon,
who was famous for his building operations, the temple, the palace, and the
chariot cities, it appears obvious to me that 2 Chronicles 8:4 had to have
been written after Tadmor had become "a famous city," so I would date
Chronicles to not any earlier than the 1st century BCE.

In earlier postings to this list I argued that the "Primary History,"
Genesis to 2 Kings, is a composition of the 5th century BCE, with the
argument that Madai's descent from Japheth is derived from the Athenian
Greek Medus myth, turned into political propaganda by the Persian Royal
court in 490 BCE to justify their invasion and conquest of Greece. I thus
suspect that what we have here is a period of approximately 3 or 4 centuries
between the "Primary History" and Chronicles, which may be enough time to
account for the differences noted in the Hebrew being employed by these two
histories.

All the best,

Walter

Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
Walldorf by Heidelberg
Baden-Wurttemburg
Germany