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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] logograms--an ode to Hebrew

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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Revdpickrel AT wmconnect.com
  • To: Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] logograms--an ode to Hebrew
  • Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:40:54 EST

In a message dated 12/23/2004 8:10:49 PM Central Standard Time,
Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu writes:


> For what it's worth, one explanation that is often given for the use of the
> term "great lights" in Genesis 1--rather than "sun" and "moon"--is that its
> author (whoever that might be) wanted to "demote" the sun ($M$) and moon
> (YRX) in the minds of the readers (whoever they might be) from the status of
> (potential) deities to the status of mere timekeepers. According the KB
> lexicon, $M$ is attested as the name of a sun-god in Akkadian, Phoenician,
> Punic, and Old South Arabic (in the latter, KB says that $M$ appears as a
> theophoric element in personal names). As for YRX, KB says that YRH (the H
> there should have a rocker underneath, the letter is three wedges in a
> vertical line, corresponding to Arabic kha') is attested in Ugaritic texts
> as a divine name. I haven't the resources ready to hand to track down
> references and look at the primary sources with my own eyes just now.

Chris,

"...term "great lights" in Genesis 1--rather than "sun" and "moon"--is that
its
author (whoever that might be) wanted to "demote" the sun ($M$) and moon..."
Isn't this speculation as well - to assume why the writer didn't use
the names of the sun and moon is skirting the issue. I would like to see us
do
something useful here. If we can identify colophons in Genesis we may be
able to establish when each part was written and then maybe who may have
written
it. It's a long short but it's worth the time. B.Hebrew list is the perfect
place to have such a project. I think it very reasonable to assume that
Moses
may have edited Genesis but I don't think he wrote it. There is no record in
Scripture where God ever told Moses what to write yet there is a record where
God instructed Moses to write down an event and rehearse it in Joshua's ears.
There must be clues somewhere if we just look. The closer to the original
the better, and there is enough Hebrew text on this list to at least make an
effort. It has already been established the colophons exist on the clay
tablets
found in Iraq and ancient tablets found prior to the flood.
Tablets are to big to carry a great amount of information so at the
end of a tablet are key words that are repeated on the beginning of the next
tablet. These are called colophons. It is unlikely that translators kept
these
colophons in order so it's useless to search in KJV and other versions.
Maybe
Adam kept a diary and we call it Genesis, maybe even Seth kept it one. What
does the Hebrew word for Genesis mean?


Doug Pickrel
Tejas Valley
San Antonio, TX




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