Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 04/08/2004 22:22, Bill Rea wrote:

> ...
>
> If you look for natural explanations of the signs and wonders in the
> text you miss (probably deliberately) what the text is trying to tell
> you. Often you end up only having pushed the sign or wonder into a
> different aspect of the event, here the preservation of Moses' life.
> It's a bit like the mess in Dr Suess's Cat in the Hat - the miraculous
> just moves it doesn't go away. (That's an imperfect analogy.)
>
>  
This reminds me of a joke, which I will repeat here because it is 
relevant and make's Bill's point clearly.

A teacher was telling a class the story of the parting of the Red Sea. 
When he got to the point where YHWH turns the sea into dry land, he was 
interrupted by a child shouting "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!" "What do 
you mean?" asked the teacher. The child said "What a wonderful miracle, 
God parting the sea like that!" The teacher replied "Well, not really. 
The water there was only a few inches deep, the wind could easily blow 
it back." And he continued with the story.

But when he got to the part where the Egyptian army was all drowned, he 
was again interrupted by "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!" "What is it 
now?" asked the teacher. The same child said "This time it really must 
have been a miracle, the whole army drowning in a few inches of water!"

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