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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Ezekiel 38:2f.; 39:1

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  • From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
  • To: Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Ezekiel 38:2f.; 39:1
  • Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2004 17:52:28 -0500

I have read Hal Lindsey's book (actually, not his, it was written by a ghost
writer whose name I have fogotten) and I disagree with it in so many ways
that I do not consider it trustworthy.

In Ezekiel 38:2-3 and 39:1, R)$ is in the middle of what appears to be a list
of names, in the same manner as some of its allies are listed in 38:5-6.
While the word R)$ normally refers to "head" or "first", that does not rule
out its use as a transliterated name. Contextually, its use here does not
seem to fit its normal use, rather it seems to be a transliterated name.

The present name Russia is from about 1000 years ago, as the name of
bloodthirsty Vikings who took over what is now European Russia and set up the
kingdom of the Rus, so if Ezekiel was naming a people known in his day, it
could not refer to modern Russia.

On the other hand, if he referred to a people not known in his day but
mentioned prophetically, there is no grammatical reason to say that R)$
(which was possibly pronounced as "Ro)aSe" in that day, not far different
from the modern "Rossya") cannot refer to Russia. There is no grammatical
reason why it should either. The main objection is philosophical.

Further details are found in 38:15-16 that this is in the latter days and
that GWG, of which R)$ is a part, is in the far reaches of the north. Now
there are three ways to read this passage: 1) this is completely fictional
referring to events that never happened and never will happen, but an
interesting and/or meaningful story nonetheless, 2) this refers to an event
that has already happened and we can recognize the players in the story and
3) this is an example of God's prophetic ability to tell about events far in
the future. As members of b-hebrew, it is not our place to command which
interpretation to accept, in fact there may be other ways of interpreting
this passage that I missed, rather just to describe the linguistic structure
of the story.

Karl W. Randolph.


----- Original Message -----
From: trepp AT telus.net

>
> What are B-Hebrew subscribers' ideas on grammatical possibility for "RO)SH"
> equalling Russia? I'll withhold comment until I have had the chance to hear
> others' uninfluenced answers.

--
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