Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Digest, Vol 58, Issue 18

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Digest, Vol 58, Issue 18
  • Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:03:44 -0400

Yigal,

You are right. Still here is a detailed story of a simple [very] young Hebrew man, the son of simple God fearing people, freely interacting with the Philistines [and their daughters]. It is, of course, possible that Samson, after years of dealing with them learned their language and that the famous, remarkably worded, XIDAH is given to us in translation. It is also possible that the town of TIMNATAH was a mixed town. But it is equally possible that the Philistines spoke a Hebrew dialect.
As far as I can recall not one of their names, including that of DAGON their god, is unmistakably non Semitic.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 20, 2007, at 4:38 PM, Yigal Levin wrote:

In the Bible, or at least most of it, everyone speaks good Hebrew. So do the
Egyptians in Genesis and Exodus, the Midianites in Exodus and Judges, the
Moabites in Judges, Arameans in Kings, all of the sailors and the people of
Nineveh in Jonah and so on. This is just one more indication that the
biblical authors did not intend to write word-for-word historical accounts
of actual events - they had messages to get across, and wanted those
messages to be as clear as possible to their intended audience - who of
course spoke Hebrew. Only in those few places in which the foreigners'
language was a part of the story did the writers make an effort to make them
sound foreign.

As far as Yaakov's mention of the Ekron Inscription, Achish ben Padi's use
of the title Sar rather than Melekh can be explained in three ways, none of
them really satisfactory:

1. As Yaakov suggested, a throwback to what is presumably the old Philistine
title Seren, used in the Bible for the rulers of the five major Philistine
cities, and often thought to be connected to the Greek Tyranos. The problem
with this is both the use of Sin and not Samekh, but more so the missing
Nun.

2. Using Sar, which in Hebrew/Canaanite is a lower rank than Melekh (king),
because the Philistines were subsurvient to the Assyrian Melekh (king). The
problem with this is that the Assyrians themselves, in inscriptions by both
Sennacherib and Essarhadon, had no problem with referring to both Padi and
Achish (Ikaysu) by the title "king" (Sharru in Akkadian). So why would
Achish feel obligated to use a lesser title?

3. The use of "Sar" is actually an adoption of the Akkadian "Sharru" used by
the Assyrian overlords. Possible, but if so then unique.

Yigal Levin

----- Original Message -----
From: "Yaakov Stein" <yaakov_s AT rad.com>
To: "Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>
Cc: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 8:44 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Digest, Vol 58, Issue 18


What is in interesting in the story of judges 14 is that the
Philistines appear to have spoken good Hebrew.

I don't know much about the language they spoke in the time of Samson
(12th century or so BCE?)
but in an 8th century BCE inscription found in Ekron
(published by Gitin, Dothan and Naveh)
the language is very close to Hebrew.

Interestingly the word &R is used for king instead of MLK,
which seems to be in line with the bible's usage of SRN
and &R (in Sam1).

Yaakov (J) Stein
_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew



--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.14.13/1074 - Release Date:
16/10/2007 14:14



_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page