Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 25/10/2005 01:19, Kevin Riley wrote:

> I know that this is a suggestion many on this list will see as heresy, but
> could I suggest that, rather than relying on the internet for articles that
> are of widely varying accuracy, anyone who is interested in this subject
> actually read some of the classic books where all the evidence is set out
> for everyone to comprehend and argue with.  There seems to be a virus
> infecting so many people interested in religion and religious writings that
> makes them avoid like the plague anyone who has spent a lifetime actually
> studying the subject in favour of 'unbiased' authorities like Wikipedia and
> obscure internet sites.  Just in case anyone wants to [probably in secret to
> avoid public castigation] read these books, I will list some below to get
> you started.
>  

Kevin, I take your point. But in response I want to make three points:

1) Some of us are situated far from good libraries and simply don't have 
access to these kinds of classic books.

2) Sometimes the classic books are decades, even a century or more, out 
of date, whereas the latest scholarship can often be found on the 
Internet - although mixed up with all kinds of old or simply wrong ideas.

3) The articles I recommended on Greek were not chosen at random from 
unreliable parts of the Internet, even if the actual sites on which they 
are hosted are obscure. Randall Buth is a former member of this list and 
someone I personally trust to be a good scholar. The same for Carl 
Conrad who is a moderator of the b-greek list. And Chrys Caragounis is a 
respected New Testament scholar whose courses I once took - and you also 
recommend him.

Please note also that I have several times challenged others in this 
discussion to provide evidence concerning changes in Hebrew 
pronunciation, rather than to make assumptions. I would be very pleased 
to see evidence from such classic books.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/