Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

George:

The question is not the identity of Ephraim, nor that of his son Bery'ah, but 
how should we read the text?

I understand that Chronicles was written after the Babylonian Exile, making 
use of the genealogical tables that were still extant at that time (notice 
their use in Ezra). As such, it is no surprise to find names out of temporal 
sequence, much the same was as if I were to write about Henry Hudson's visit 
to New York.

My reading of the text indicates that the event of Ephraim losing his sons 
occured in Egypt itself, not in Canaan. Further, the "men of Gath" were the 
Egyptian born sons of people from Gath who had settled in Egypt.

But who was this "daughter" $)RH and how does she fit in the picture? Was she 
a notable descendant mentioned because she founded the towns in Canaan after 
the Exodus under Moses? Or was she an immediate daughter of Ephraim, and the 
towns in question were temporary towns for Israelites while still in Egypt? 
Right now, I lean towards the former.

The conclusion is not so obvious.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "George F. Somsel" <gfsomsel AT juno.com>

> Peter,
> 
> And perhaps Ephraim was ET's brother.  C'mon.  There's only one person
> (?) known in the OT simply as Ephraim.  Why all this unsupported
> speculation ?  Is is not simply to avoid the obvious conclusion?
> 
> george
> gfsomsel
-- 
___________________________________________________________
Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com
http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm