Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:16:04 +0000 Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
writes:
> On 16/03/2005 14:29, Yitzhak Sapir wrote:
> 
> >... the 
> >fact that you (both Peter and Karl) accept Deuteronomy to 
> >be dated to Moses makes my claims dependent upon the 
> >dating of Deuteronomy. ...
> >
> 
> I didn't actually say this. For one thing I didn't mention 
> Deuteronomy. 
> And then I was only pointing out that certain evidence for later 
> authorship which someone had put forward was in fact very weak 
> evidence, 
> for later true authorship rather than redaction. I consider the 
> issue to 
> be open, not clearly proved either way.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You didn't say it, but if you said it you meant " . . . "
Am I reading you correctly?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

> 
> >... but a very great
> >majority would agree that the Pentateuch as a whole does
> >not actually claim to be written by Moses.  It may claim that
> >God spoke to Moses, but it doesn't say that this event
> >occured in the present time of the writer.
> >  
> >
> 
> And the great majority of Deuteronomy is put on the lips of Moses in 
> 
> person, which is a prima facie claim that this material originated 
> from 
> Moses. Such a claim needs to be tested, of course, but it is a real 
> claim.
> 
> >... Heshbon did not exist before 
> >1200 BCE, and the first major building at the site apparently 
> >occured only during the 9th-8th centuries, with the building of a 
> >reservoir/pool at the site. ...
> >
> 
> Such negative conclusions can drawn from archaeology only with very 
> 
> great care. Perhaps the earlier site of Heshbon was in a different 
> place 
> from the later city, not yet excavated. Perhaps all earlier remains 
> were 
> eroded before or destroyed by the later building works. Perhaps the 
> 
> earlier settlement was of nomads with temporary structures, which 
> notoriously leave very little archaeological trace.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ah, yes, the old "we just haven't found the evidence yet" argument.  What
would you say if we were to dig up the entire country?  We didn't dig
deep enough?  We're on the wrong side of the Jordon?

george
gfsomsel
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