Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>]

Then there's the third possibility - reality.   Abraham was an Amoritic
tribal leader who ranged between Syria and Mesopotamia and Palestine nearly
a thousand years before Akhenaten, and his faith was that of the Amorites of
his time.

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra AT austin.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Akhenaten and Hebrew religion


>
> Excuse me Harold, but just how do you know when Abraham lived in relation
to
> Akhenaten?
>
> As far as the issue itself, there are two possibilities:
> 1. Abraham was a true monotheist, just like the Bible says. In this case,
it
> is improbable that he was influenced by Akhenaten, who was far from being
a
> monotheist.
>
> 2. Whoever the "historical" Abraham was, the biblical character of Abraham
> is mostly a creation of later Israelite/Judean writers. In this case, the
> question is, what influence did the short lived "Amarna Revolution" have
on
> the eventual development of monotheism in Israel/Judah. My position would
> be - none.
>
> Yigal