Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Revdpickrel AT wmconnect.com>
> Normally, time is rendered as one year, times as two years, in scriptures.
> So would read that David is saying, "my years are in your hand."  A 
> prophetic
> year is 360 days, and a prophetic month is 30 days.
>
> Doug.
> Rev. Doug Pickrel, Litt.D.
> Tejas Valley
> San Antonio, Texas
> _______________________________________________


Dear Doug,

Interesting concepts, but what are they based on?. Why should the word "(et" 
not mean just "time" in general? The common word for "year" is "Shanah".

And what are "prophetic years" and "prophetic months"? Why would they have 
to be round numbers of days? The month used in ancient Israel was a lunar 
month of 28 or 29 days - so why would a prophet mean 30? And the common 
(non-intercalated) year was 354 days. When a prophet says that something 
would happen "in a year's time", he means "next year at this time", and I 
doubt if anyone would complain if he was a few days off. For a prophet to 
use numbers other than what his audience would relate to would make the 
prophecy meaningless.

Besides, what does this psalm have to do with prophecy. It is a prayer of 
praise and entreating.

Yigal Levin