Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

Jim:

Particularly with the happax legomai terms, but also those lexemes used more 
than once, it is possible that the best we can do to ascertain meaning is an 
educated guess, sometimes just a wild guess. Translators don't like such 
ambiguity, it makes translation difficult, thus they often fill in their wild 
guess as “Gospel truth”.

Just what were these )MNWT given to the king of Asshur? We read that they 
were plated, presumably something metalic. The root that it appears to be 
connected with deals with trustworthiness. Beyond these, this is the only 
time that )MNH refers to a physical object. There is nothing in the context 
that indicates what is meant.

I don’t see the problem in admitting that we don’t know what it means.

Karl W. Randolph.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>

> 
>...
> 
> This is the crucial evidence which shows that "shields" does make 
> sense in the context. (Note that I am not supporting the textual 
> emendation, but suggesting a different meaning for the extant 
> Hebrew text.) Rehoboam was forced to pay off Shishak with golden 
> shields. Hezekiah was forced to pay off Sennacherib with golden 
> 'OMNOT. The parallel is so close that it is almost compelling, in 
> my opinion.
> 
> -- Peter Kirk
> peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> http://www.qaya.org/
-- 
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