Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Harold:

In view of your response to me, I had decided not 
to respond, but now as you expanded to Yitzhak, 
there are a few things that I think should be 
emphasized.

>From your latest responses, I wonder if you really 
know English that well. (e.g. I have several times 
read the phrase "he is like a dog with a bone" 
which is an idiomatic phrase that has nothing about 
likening a person to a dog, rather it is a comment 
on his tenacity. That you didn't recognize it 
reflects on your knowledge of English.)

I will come back to Genesis 8:22.

When you quoted many translations, my eyes glazed 
over and I skipped that section. Translations don't 
count. I have read Tanakh only once in translation, 
but several times in Hebrew. If you want to 
convince me, show me from Hebrew usage.

Similarly, your references to modern science and 
bird migration patterns are irrelevant.

As I claim, words have a circle of meaning, for 
some their area is great, for others their range of 
meaning can be very restricted.

The word "season" even in English has a range of 
meaning, not just the seasons (summer, fall, etc.). 
Poetically it is used for much shorter periods, 
such as the "season to be jolly" which, according 
to tradition, lasted 12 days, or the "Easter 
season" which lasted 8 days.  Thus, even if you use 
"season" in Jeremiah 8:7, it does not necessarily 
correspond to the seasons as in summer, fall, etc.

But at question isn't the English word "season" but 
the Hebrew "MW(D", what does it mean? Does it 
include the four seasons as in summer, fall, etc.? 
I see no evidence whatsoever that it does. But I 
see plenty of evidence that it means "appointed 
time and/or place". Even in the verses you cite to 
support your claim, the use of MW(D refers to an 
appointed time (not necessarily limited to a point 
time, but can be drawn out time) and place.

Now back to Genesis 8:22: you have an idiosyncratic 
reading not shared by many, including myself. That 
verse is one of the clues that those who hold to a 
young earth creation followed by a flood model of 
history claim that the antediluvian world had a 
completely different climate than the postdiluvian 
world; that the antediluvian world had no seasons 
as we know them today. This they derive from a 
linguistic analysis of the verse in the context of 
all of Genesis.

In order for you to convince me that MW(D means 
"season" as in summer, fall, etc., you need to cite 
a verse where it can have no other meaning. This 
you have failed to do. All you have presented are 
idiosyncratic readings of very few verses.

Karl W. Randolph.

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>
> 
> Dear Harold,
> 
> ...
> 
> In your message, you referenced your reply to Karl.  Was that
> meant as a response to my analysis of Psalm 104, or as
> additional information on Jer 8:7?
> 
> Yitzhak Sapir
> http://toldot.blogspot.com

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