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

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] logograms--an ode to Hebrew
  • Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 16:39:41 +0000

On 24/12/2004 16:45, George F Somsel wrote:

...

I'm not sure that we are on the same wave-length. What are a few of
those you would deem to be fictional? Moses? David? Solomon? Jeremiah?
Isaiah? Or are you speaking of some other names?


Jim wrote, only about four hours ago but many messages ago:

as to Nehemiah- he's as fictional as Moses and Abraham; and fictional people don't write books, they are the subject of them.


In fact I would think that Nehemiah has a better claim to existence than almost anyone in the Hebrew Bible, apart from the few foreign kings named in other sources. There was certainly a series of Persian governors of Judea during the Achaemenid period, but their names are mostly not recorded elsewhere. These governors were I believe commonly from the governed ethnic group. So it is highly likely that Artaxerxes would have appointed as governor a trusted Jew from his private household. The name Nehemiah is a very likely one for this Persian period, and is recorded for two other individuals from this period but not in any other period. So, even if the book is not genuinely Nehemiah's memoir, there is a very good chance that it was attributed to a well-known and respected Persian governor of the time.

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



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