Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben and Jo Crick)]

On Thu 18 Jul 2002 (22:48:09 +0200), peter_kirk AT sil.org wrote:
> Surely "God of Israel" doesn't mean "God of the land of Israel"? Israel
> was originally a person, then a nation, and only thirdly a land. So "God
> of Israel" was originally "God of Jacob", then "God of the people of
> Israel", long before they even lived in the land of Israel. The concept
> of a god of a particular geographical area does not seem to have been
> an Israelite one.
>

 I wonder if Isaiah had Numbers 13:32-33 in mind?

 "... the land [Ha'aReC] we explored devours those living in it. All the 
people
 we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there.... We seemed like
 grasshoppers [Xa:GaBiYM] in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them"
 (NIV).

 Even so, IMHO, I feel that the "Land" in Isaiah 40:22 is the Inhabitable 
Earth
 of Creation (cf Isaiah 45:18), rather than just the Promised Land of Canaan.

 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick BA CF, and Mrs Joanna (Goodwin) Crick
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
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