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  • From: Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Hebrew as a spoken language
  • Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:48:26 -0700 (PDT)

Karl,

Not all can agree to your statement:

"The last generation that we can all agree on that learned Biblical
Hebrew at their mothers' knees was the first generation born during
the Exile"....

Karl W. Randolph."


Keep in mind just two facts: not all the Northern and Judean
populations were exiled; secondly, the Hebrew the residents spoke
underwent marked changes - under various influences - and became
the "Mishnaic" language. The latter simply could not have been
an artifical invention by scholars, devised only to be written.

True, in the second Temple period and later both Aramaic and
Greek became more and more spoken, but Hebrew was still in use.,
(Cf. the Bar Kokhba letters), though it became rarer.

In fact, the houshold of Yehuda the Prince, the redactor of the
Mishnah, c 200 CE was praised in that "even the maid" spoke
Hebrew.

Uri

BTW my remarks above are general. I didn't mean to discuss
the date of Daniel.



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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] 6-Month "Year"
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Dear Jim,

Remember that Joseph in Genesis 39 was sent to prison because of the false
accusation of attempted rape by Potiphar's wife. He was a full-blown adult at
that time in charge of the entire household.

You are still trying to stretch the evidence beyond what it is capable of. In
fact, as you persist it becomes more and more untenable.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
----- Original Message -----
From: <JimStinehart AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 7:58 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] 6-Month "Year"


>
> George:
> 1. You wrote: "The word *na`ar* does not have as its basic meaning
> someone
> who is
> young of age. Rather, it has the sense of someone who is inexperienced.
> This often corresponds with people who are young in age, and therefore who
are
> inexperienced in life, but not always. It might also refer to someone who is
> inexperienced at a trade or profession (i.e., a trainee or apprentice). In
> any case, it generally is indicative more of social status than actual
> age."
> (a) The Internet sources all seem to say that "na'ar" means what you say it
> does not mean: "someone who is young of age".
> Strong's definition of "na'ar": "a boy…, from the age of infancy to
> adolescence; by implication, a servant…: -- babe, boy, child,…lad,
> servant,
young
> (man)."
> Blue Letter Bible: "a boy, lad, youth, servant, retainer".
> Gesenius: a boy or a servant.
> (b) But let's go with your view that the primary meaning of "na'ar" is
> "someone who is inexperienced". However, I hope you will agree that a male
age 8
> – 13 would be a "na'ar" in any event, regardless of how experienced or
> inexperienced he might be. Fair enough?
> Now we ask the key question. Is Joseph described in this text as being
> "inexperienced"? Here is what the text says:
> "And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners
> that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of
> it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his
hand,
> because the LORD [YHWH] was with him; and that which he did, the LORD
> [YHWH] made it to prosper. And it came to pass after these things, that the
butler
> of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.
> …
> And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the
> prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard
charged
> Joseph to be with them, and he ministered unto them; and they continued a
> season in ward." Genesis 39: 22-23; 40: 1, 3-4
> On those facts, how can you view Joseph as being "inexperienced"? Joseph
> is
> running the most important jail in Egypt. "[W]hatsoever they did there, he
> was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that
> was under his hand…."
> When these two high Egyptian officials have been thrown into jail, Joseph
> is
> not their servant. Rather, Joseph is their jailkeeper. "And the captain
> of the guard charged Joseph to be with them, and he ministered unto them;
> and
> they continued a season in ward."
> Conclusions
> (1) Joseph is not "inexperienced". Joseph is running the most important
> jail in Egypt.
> (2) Joseph is not a servant of the Egyptian high officials who have been
> thrown into jail. Rather, Joseph is their jailkeeper.
> (3) Why then does the innocent, honest Egyptian high official (the cup
> bearer/butler) later refer at Genesis 41: 12 to Joseph as having been a
"na'ar"?
> Because, using the 6-month "year" concept, Joseph was age 13 years, in
> regular, 12-month years, at the time. Joseph was a "na'ar" only in the
> sense
of
> his age.
> (4) If Joseph had been a middle-aged man, age 28 in regular, 12-month
> years, which is the scholarly view, then Joseph would have failed all three
tests
> of being a "na'ar". Joseph is not inexperienced, Joseph was not a servant
> of
> the jailed Egyptian officials, and a middle-aged man age 28 regular years
> would not be a "young" person.
> 2. You wrote: "For this reason, I think you're engaging in special
> pleading to make
> your 6-month year work. Just because you can provide an explanation for
> many
> aspects of something does not mean that your explanation is probable."
> My theory of the 6-month "year" explains every single stated age in the
> Patriarchal narratives, beginning at Genesis 11: 26. How can that be
"special
> pleading", when it explains 100% of the stated ages in this text?
> 3. You wrote: "In conclusion: I still don't buy your theory - you haven't
> convinced
> me yet."
> We have seen that Ishmael is a "na'ar" who is carried by his mother into
> exile. Certainly the scholarly view that Ishmael was age 16 regular years
> at
> that time makes no sense. On the 6-month "year" view, Ishmael was age 9½
> regular years, which makes perfect sense. We have seen that Joseph is a
"na'ar"
> who is the jailkeeper of high Egyptian officials. Joseph cannot be age 28
> regular years, as the scholarly view would have it, or else the formerly
jailed
> official would not describe middle-aged Joseph, his former jailkeeper, as
> being "na'ar". No, Joseph is a "na'ar" because, under the 6-month "year"
view,
> Joseph was age 13 regular years at the time. Sarah doesn't give birth to
> Isaac at age 90 regular years, as the scholarly view would have it. No, on
the
> 6-month "year" view, Sarah is age 45 regular years. Sarah is not
> attractive
> to Pharaoh at age 65 regular years, as the scholarly view would
> nonsensically have it. No, Sarah is age 32½ regular years. Isaac is not
age 37 regular
> years when he is referred to as a "na'ar" at Genesis 22: 5, 12, and he
> innocently asks his father: "'Behold the fire and the wood; but where is
the
> lamb for a burnt-offering?'" Genesis 22: 7 On the 6-month "year" view,
Isaac
> is age 15 regular years. Jacob/"Israel" does not wait until he is in his
> 70s
> to marry, for heaven's sake. Joseph isn't a mere helper to his
> half-brothers
> by his father's minor wives at age 17 regular years, nor would Joseph
> tattle
> on those brothers at age 17 regular years. Rather, Joseph is a mere boy,
> age 8½ regular years, at the time, which makes perfect sense.
> Note that the scholarly view of the ages of the people in the Patriarchal
> narratives consistently is nonsensical and directly contradicts what the
Hebrew
> text plainly says, whereas all ages make perfect sense on the 6-month
> "year"
> view.
> "[Y]ou haven't convinced me yet."
> Have I at least convinced you that (i) the scholarly view of the ages of
> the
> people in the Patriarchal narratives makes no sense at all, based on what
> the Hebrew text clearly says, and that (ii) all ages make perfect sense on
the
> 6-month "year" view?
> The text of the Patriarchal narratives is perfect, as is. We just need to
> re-examine our interpretation of this text.
> Joseph, as the jailkeeper of the most important prisoners in Egypt, was not
> "inexperienced", nor was Joseph a servant of those officials who had been
> thrown into Joseph's jail. No, Joseph was a "na'ar" because, on the
> 6-month
> "year" view, Joseph was age 13 regular years at the time.
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
>
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>


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