Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin Riley" <klriley AT alphalink.com.au>]

-------Original Message------- 
 
From: K Randolph 
Date: 28/10/2007 9:42:08 PM 
 
Bryant: 
 
 
Are you claiming the both the writer of Kings and Jeremiah were lying 
When they claimed that all the people who were left went to Egypt, in 
The same way as your teenagers (your teenagers know it's a lie, and 
Will admit it if you press them)? What sort of God is that who depends 
On lies to make his points? If you can't trust a God behind the 
Writing the Bible on little points like that "all" in Jeremiah really 
Meant all, why should you trust him on important themes in the Bible? 
While the above questions are admittedly theological, they show one 
Reason why some of us reject the claims of modern scholars who claim 
That there was a pool of Hebrew speakers who remained in Judea during 
The Babylonian Exile. Those questions also expose the fact that the 
Claim that there was a pool of Hebrew speakers left in Judea during 
The Exile is just as much a theological claim as to trust the Biblical 
Record. 
 
****************************
Perhaps it is instead a literary question: could God perhaps know Hebrew
well enough to use the language rhetorically?  I have never understood why
people would assume [and it is just an assumption] that God and/or inspired
writers would never use the language in anything but a woodenly literal
fashion.  Surely we can see that to use a language rhetorically and
creatively is different to lying?  Perhaps there is exaggeration and
hyperbole in the Bible, and maybe it is there for the same reason it is in
all literature - to make a point.  Maybe God does have some things in common
with our teenagers - one of which is the desire to get us to pay attention
and actually listen to the message beyond the literal words.
 
Kevin Riley