Biblical Hebrew Forum

["John W. Leys" <eliyahu5733 AT jerusalem.zzn.com>]

Deborah Millier wrote:

> My point? We can implicitly trust BDB to tell us what
> �the plain literal meaning of the text� truly is. (But
> is that what the *biblical author* intended?. . . 
I said nothing about authorial intent. There is absolutely no way to 
acertain the intent of any author without directly questioning them--and 
even then you have to be able to trust that they are being honest. I 
spoke of determinining the plain meaning of the text. Can the plain 
meaning and the intent of the author differ? Sure, but its the best that 
we can do. What appears in the NT (as well in Rabbinic literature) are 
theological interpretations of the text written by people who were also 
not native speakers of Biblical Hebrew.

--
Shalom!
John W. Leys
http://eliyahu5733.blogspot.com/

"Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge"
	- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel