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b-hebrew - Re: Re: [b-hebrew] Bribes, Gifts, and Tribute

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  • From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
  • To: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Re: [b-hebrew] Bribes, Gifts, and Tribute
  • Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 00:46:16 -0500

David:

Biblical Hebrew does make a difference between hiring %KR
&#1513;&#1499;&#1512; and bribing $XD &#1513;&#1495;&#1491; . What the kings
did was called a bribe.

A couple of times mercenaries were hired, but for some reason sending a gift
to the king asking him to act constituted a “bribe”.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: <david.kimbrough AT charter.net>
> Karl,
>
> If I ask a carpenter to build me a house he may not be
> inclined to do so. If I offer to pay him he will probably
> become so inclined. Similarly if I have a case before a
> judge, he may not be inclined to find in my favor. I offer
> to pay him; he may well be come so inclined in my favor.
> The former is legal and is not considered bribery while the
> latter is not and is considered bribery.
>
> In the case of the two kings, in each case, the king of
> Judea made payments to some foreign king (Syrian and
> Assyrian) to attack his enemy (Israel and Syria). This
> sort of arrangement was legal and normal. Notably, the
> author of 1 and 2 Kings do not condemn either Ahaz or Asa
> for these payments. Indeed why should there be any
> condemnation when in each case the payments had the desired
> effect, the enemy attacking Judea was defeated Judea was
> rescued. Asa?s ?heart was perfect with the LORD all his
> days?.
>
> It is only the modern reader who detects something wrong or
> immoral in this arrangement, even it is a practice that is
> stilled used today. Ancient readers did not detect and
> moral problem, especially since it seemed to work quite
> well.
>
>
>
--
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