Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Thu 18 Aug 2005 (21:51:08 +0000), yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com wrote:
> I had considered the idea that Ro)eh and Xozeh refer both to
> astrologers.  There's not much data behind it, but both Amos and Isaiah
> seem to contain astrological references and both are referred in roots
> of XZH when describing their acts of  prophecy in the first verse of each
> book respectively.  Also, Samuel appears to be Saul's Ro)eh while Gad
> appears to be David's Xozeh.  This would suggest a very close
> relationship to the king, and an astrologer might very well have had
> such a relationship, especially in a lunisolar calendar society of
> that period.  Also, if you look above, you will note that the titles of
> different personalities are relatively constant.  Iddo is constantly a
> Seer, especially 1 Chron 9:29, where the words XZWT Y(DY HXZH is used.

 Thank you for that, Yitzhak. You mean of course 2 Chronicles 9:29.
 I had not considered XZH in my brief response to James' inquiry, and
 a complete reply must include it. Astrology was an important science at
 the time, even though any form of occultism was a big No-no for the
 children of Israel (Isaiah 8:19). Root XZH would seem to include the
 utterances of a medium in an ecstatic state; although its use of the
 activities of Isaiah and Amos render it 'kosher' to use of the prophets
 of YHWH.

> This includes a distinction between XZH and R)H that is maintained
> appropriately and separately for each personality.  This would suggest
> to me that if the distinctions had become blurred, it was by the time
> of Samuel (the book) and not Samuel (the personality).  Let's keep this
> thread focused on the semantics of this various words though, and not on
> the date or historicity of Samuel (the book or personality).

 I did mean the time of writing of the Books of Samuel, whenever that was.
 But no, let's not go there...

 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF                                       ZFC Hf
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