Biblical Hebrew Forum

[<david.kimbrough AT charter.net>]

It is important to re-state what the debate is about.  

QUESTION: Is there any evidence that the Sumerian Job-like poems of 1700 BC 
were influenced by a pre-existing Hebrew poems?

ANSWER: No there is no evidence that any such Hebrew poems existed or that 
any language existed at that time that might be called Hebrew.

AMPLIFICATION: It is impossible to prove a negative.  It can never 
demonstrated that Job was not written in 3,000 BC or 2,000 BC or 1,000 BC.  
The fact that something cannot be disproven, proves nothing.  I cannot 
disprove the fact that there are little green men living on the far side of 
the moon.  That however is no argument that they actually are there.

It can be proven that Job was not written in 1,000 AD however.  This is 
because is evidence, in the form of the LXX and DSS, that in fact there were 
written versions of Job around 100 BC, in both Greek and Hebrew

ADDITIONAL POINTS: 

1) Job is said to own 3,000 camels.  It is pretty well established that 
camels were not domesticated too much before 1,000 BC.  Job is also presented 
as being a sedentary individual, not a migratory shepherd as would be more 
appropriate to a Israelite of the patriarchal era.

2) Job-like poems were an entire genre in Sumer and Babylon.  One of the 
earlier ones (Ludlul Bêl Nimeqi) was written around 1700 BC.  Now according 
to traditional chronologies, this is the period of Egyptian captivity for the 
Israelites.  Now how could the Sumerians be copying Israelite poetry when 
they were enslaved in Goshen and Pi-Ramesses.  

3) There is a misunderstanding about the argumentum ex silentio.  For 
example, Paul never mentions the virgin birth of Jesus in any of his letters. 
 Does this prove that Paul did not know about the virgin birth? No, it does 
not. This is an example of where the argument from silence is a logical 
fallacy.

4) There is a however a valid use for the *argument from silence.  I ask a 
man *Do you know Harry S Truman middle name?*.  He says *Yes*.  I ask him, 
*OK, what is it?*.  He says *I wont? tell you.*  *Well why not?* I reply.  *I 
won?t tell that either* he replies.  Here there is valid reason to question 
whether this man does know President Truman?s middle.  Here an argument from 
silence would be valid. (His middle name was S BTW).

5) The fact that the historical record is ?silent? as to the existence of a 
Hebrew Job around does not prove that there was not one.  It does prove there 
is no evidence for one.


David Kimbrough
San Gabriel