Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 8/5/05, Dora Smith wrote:
> This is indeed interesting.
> 
> One thing that surely happened is that Israel had origins.  Given that the
> Egyptian record shows events of Judges happening in the 18th and 19th
> dynasties (or was it 19th and 20th), before 1220, surely there was also
> history taking place in the 10th century.

What particular Judges events are told of in the Egyptian record?  I think
Ahlstrom in his history suggests a tribal people in the Megiddo area mentioned
in the Egyptian record are the people of Asher, but that's not a "Judges 
event."
I personally think that although writing continued throughout the "Judges"
period it was very limited.  Furthermore, I think the Judges episodes 
themselves
reflect events that occured in the 10th or 9th centuries BCE.

> Though one theory is that David was a not very elaborate tribal chieftain
> and Jerusalem no more than a citadel.

Even finding a "palace" in Jerusalem or even a fortified town wouldn't 
discount
him as a tribal chieftain.  David as a tribal chieftain was different from the
chieftain of deep desert nomadic tribes.  Here we are speaking of semi-
nomadic population, which herded small flocks of sheep or goats, and whose
tribal leader may indeed have been settled.

> Under what king was this guy an official?   I am wondering why one of
> David's officials would be mentioned exclusively in the book of Jeremiah.

This is a 6th century seal relating to a 6th century king.  He is mentioned in
Jeremiah 37-38.

Yitzhak Sapir