Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>

> On 15/07/2004 16:37, Dave Washburn wrote:
> 
> >On Wednesday 14 July 2004 14:22, david.kimbrough AT charter.net wrote:
> >  
> >
> >>I have to disagree.
> >>
> >>1) The earliest that Genesis 32 could have been written was during the
> >>exodus by Moses.  This means the conversations of the Adullamite with the
> >>unspecified individuals occurred hundreds of years prior, at the ealiest. 
> >>It seems unlikely that Genesis 32 is a verbatim transcript of the
> >>conversations.
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >No, the earliest that the form of Genesis 32 that we have could have been 
> >written was then.  But there is no reason why this author, whoever one may 
> >assume that s/he was, wouldn't have used written sources from at or near 
> >the 
> >time of the events.  It's possible that Gen 32 is a summary or an author's 
> >construct, but it's equally possible that it is in fact a "verbatim 
> >transcript" that Judah's family had preserved in a family record of some 
> >kind.  We don't know, and we can't really assume one way or the other 
> >without 
> >emphasizing that we are in fact assuming.
> >
> >[snip]
> >
> >  
> >
> Also, the story may have been preserved verbatim (or more or less so) by 
> oral tradition over those several hundred years.
> 
> -- 
> Peter Kirk

Why not written tradition?

We have no evidence other than our presuppositions that the patriarchs were 
literate or illiterate. Or that they had or did not have access to writing 
materials (as wealthy herders, they had access to vellum, ink and slaves to 
carry a small, portable library).

Karl W. Randolph.
-- 
_______________________________________________
Talk More, Pay Less with Net2Phone Direct(R), up to 1500 minutes free! 
http://www.net2phone.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?143