Biblical Hebrew Forum

["biblical hebrew" <jcr.bhebrew AT gmail.com>]

Hi Isaac,

I never said your theory was implausible. I just made the observation that
you are making extremely Western assumptions about tastes.

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, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
>
> 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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