Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Robert Vining <rvining AT log.on.ca>]

Possible eg. of TS- I Sam.6:19. "The Lord struck at the men of
Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord.; He struck
down 70 men  among the people [and] 50,000 men. The people mourned for
He had inflicted a great slaughter upon the population." (JPS)  Was an
attempt made to diminish the count from 50,070 to 70? If the intent of
the author was to signal the mythological by using the large number,
the tamperers of the text do a disservice in weakening the signal in an
effort to historicize.

Robert Vining, Owen Sound, Ontario       rvining AT log.on.ca