Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ian Hutchesson" <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

Yigal,

Thanks for your response. I don't agree with you about 
the Assyria/Syria question. I think both Josephus and 
Lucian, both eminent scholars of their times, would 
have been aware of the realities involved. But the 
issue is not important to my problem!

>Now getting back to Num 24:24, if your assumption is that the Balaam story
>is post-exilic, it may very well mean "Syria", although it would be the
>ONLY case that I know of in the Hebrew Bible. But the whole passage is so
>strange, that I would go with a less literal approach.

I am actually just clutching at straws with this verse. 
My ultimate interest is in the significance of the 
Kittim, but first I think it is necessary to extract 
what meaning I can from the verse -- and I haven't got 
very far at all.


Ian