Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 29/05/2004 13:48, George F. Somsel wrote:

> It shouldn't be surprising that Californians of the 19th cent would use
> English in much the same fashion as those in the east since a good many
> Californians of that time were eastern transplants.  It would rather be
> surprising if they didn't.
>
> gfsomsel
>  

Well, precisely. When populations are mobile, for one reason or another, 
language diversity is reduced. And there may be other factors which can 
cause this. In ancient Israel, one possible factor would be the three 
annual pilgrimages which would bring people together from all parts of 
the country. We certainly should not assume that there was great 
language diversity, as Michael has, and argue from that that originally 
diverse texts must have been edited for consistency. That may be true, 
but this is not proof of it.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/