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b-hebrew - Re: What other ancient Hebrew texts?

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  • From: b.gardner AT abdn.ac.uk
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Cc: dependabol AT hotmail.com
  • Subject: Re: What other ancient Hebrew texts?
  • Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 16:13:34 GB


> Raymond wrote:
> > On 26-02-2001 15:44 Karen Spray <karen.spray AT lineone.net> wrote:
> >
> > > I was wondering what (if any) other Hebrew texts of comparative
> antiquity
> > > exist which might shed light on word meanings etc in the Hebrew Bible.
> >
> > Karen,
> >
> > there are Hebrew inscriptions dating from the biblical times. However,
> they
> > do not help very much with regard to the meaning of words, though
> sometimes
> > they do.
> >
> > On the other hand, sometimes they are rather revolutionary with regard to
> > the religion or history of ancient Israel. For example, an inscription
> from
> > Kuntillet `Ajrud mentions that Yhwh has an Ashera. An inscription from
> Tel
> > Dan (though in Aramaic) mentions the _BYTDWD_ which refers to the house
> of
> > David (see http://members.nbci.com/gathas/teldan.htm for much more
> > information).
>
> Agreed. At the same time, it's necessary to use caution when
> interpreting what these items really mean. In particular, does the
> Kuntillet `Ajrud inscription indicate that ancient Israel *universally*
> and consistently believed YHWH had an Asherah, or does it
> indicate a localized phenomenon that took place during one of
> Israel's many reported periods of idolatry? People's answers will
> vary with their presuppositions about things like what we can know
> about ancient Israel, how reliable the biblical texts are, the history
> of religions and other aspects of the field. But in most cases, there
> are several ways of looking at the implications of these brief and
> often cryptic messages.
>
> > In case you're interested in some additional material for the study of
> the
> > meaning of (Biblical) Hebrew words, you will have to study some other
> > NW-Semitic languages, like Aramaic and Ugaritic.
>
> Most definitely. Ugaritic has done a lot for my study of Hebrew,
> Aramaic (non-biblical kind) less so but still useful. I found
> Akkadian negotiable; in some cases it seemed to shed a little light
> on the Hebrew language, but not much and not very often. I spend
> almost no time in that one any more. Your Mileage May Vary.
>

Dear Tony and All,
I think one has to beware of accepting a strict biblical
(and
especially the particularist) view of history as the ancient norm in religion.

These were only versions of Jewish reality in the politico-religious milieu
of
that time. There is the example of Elephantine where not only did Yahweh
have
a wife, Anath-Yahu, but there seems no conscious sense of disloyalty to
Judaism.

Ernst said history was the propanganda of the victors but in
religio-historical
terms it could be said that propaganda may have been the history of the
victors!

Bruce Gardner.






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