Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

James,

Abimelech, his pompous name not withstanding, was a mere speck upon  
the dusty horizon of southern Israel. But the first Hebrew couple had  
a similarly harrowing experience upon entering Egypt---the America of  
the ancient world [Genesis 12:11-20]. Her beauty was such that as  
soon as they crossed the border into the land she was spotted by the  
national Egyptian GSA [girl spotting agency] who wrote [all in neat  
little pictures] such a glowing report about her that the mighty  
Pharaoh himself could not wait to accept her in his chambers. Just  
Sarah of all the millions of good looking Egyptian girls!
Do you deem it plausible that LABAN HA-)ARAMI was the blondy of Aram?

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 18, 2007, at 4:27 AM, biblical hebrew wrote:

> And you point is?...
>
> That Abimelech had a thing for pensioners? Let's not jump to  
> conclusions
> based on modern observations of age. It had already been commented on
> Sarah's beauty earlier in Abraham's travels and for this reason  
> they agreed
> to announce that Sarah was his sister in every place they stopped  
> off. Why
> would they continue this practice if Sarah was wrinkly old granny? Was
> granny snatching a common practice in the ANE? We need to keep in  
> mind that
> people lived a lot longer back then and not make any assumptions  
> about how
> withered people were and by what age based on modern observations.  
> All the
> text says is that she was shocked she could still bear a child.
>
> The facts remain that Abimelech seized Sarah and that she and  
> Abraham still
> felt the need to announce they were brother and sister and Yhwh  
> felt the
> need to intervene before Abimelech did anything untoward. How do you
> reconcile these facts with your assumption that Sarah was already  
> 'old'?
>
> James Christian Read - BSc Computer Science
> http://www.lamie.org/hebrew       Thesis 1 - Aleppo codex machine  
> translation
> http://www.lamie.org/lad-sim.doc  Thesis 2 - language acquisition  
> simulation
>
>
>
>
> On 10/18/07, Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net> wrote:
> > Sarah was 65 at the time
> >
> > Shoshanna
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Isaac,
> >
> > while your theory on Sarah is amusing, yet plausable, don't you  
> > think your
> > theory could be subject to criticism that it stems from your own  
> > personal
> > preferences. How do we know that Abimelech didn't have a thing for  
> > dark
> > skin, plump bottoms and curly hair? Or maybe he had a thing for the
> > oriental
> > AV model types?
> >
> > Anyway, seriously, while you do have a point that Abimelech  
> > possible had a
> > harem full of beautiful women to choose from and that what catches  
> > the eye
> > is something new what you have overlooked is the 'new' factor.  
> > Abimelech
> > may
> > have already had his full of the present selection offered by his  
> > local
> > harem. Sarah was something new. He hadn't seen her before and this
> > combined
> > with natural beauty of whatever complexion and hair colour she  
> > happened to
> > be was enough to get him interested.
> >
> > James Christian Read - BSc Computer Science
> > http://www.lamie.org/hebrew       Thesis 1 - Aleppo codex machine
> > translation
> > http://www.lamie.org/lad-sim.doc  Thesis 2 - language acquisition
> > simulation
> > _______________________________________________
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