Biblical Hebrew Forum

[GOLDMAN Amir Patrick <amirpatrick.goldman AT unifr.ch>]

> "What is the past except a construction created by the present?"
> 
> That confuses and too closely equates the reality of what happened with
> reports and comments of that reality. Events acutally occurred and they
> occur very specifically. Our representations of those events may or may
> not (sliding scale of accuracy) accurately observe, reflect, report, and
> evaluate those events.
> 
> What is at stake in the present discussion ? Any history written about a
> far or recent past on which we have more facts than for the period of
> Judges is either to be trusted or not. Every historian collects facts in
> order to write a narrative - as everyone knows on this list history is
> always presented under the garment of story - no other possibility.
> Depending on the way one approaches the Bible, he or she will get a
> feeling of confidence or distrust toward it.
Remains the fact that the event is related as a concrete event and someone
distrusting the narrator should present facts about his way of narrating to
cast some doubts on the truth of what he says. 
As to the fact mentioned (by Niels if I remember) that there are parallel
stories, it surely does not mean there are not parallel facts. Human history
tends to repeat oneself... 
Yohanan Goldman