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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Genesis 31: 47: What Foreign Language Is That?
  • Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:22:57 EST


Kenneth Greifer:

Yes, you are following my argument.

1. You wrote: "I think you are saying that Laban the Aramean came from a
place called Aram, but he did not speak Aramaic."

That's right. Throughout the 2nd millennium BCE, the upper Euphrates River
area, which is where Laban lives at Harran, was referred to as "Aram". That
is
clear from the Mari archives and from 14th century BCE Ugarit. In the 2nd
millennium BCE, the fact that a person was from Aram did not imply any
particular ethnicity or language. The Aramean people did not arrive on the
scene until
very late in the 2nd millennium BCE, and the first attested use of Aramaic
does not occur until about 900 BCE, in the 1st millennium BCE.

2. You wrote: "[Laban] called the rocks some words in Hebrew and Hebrew
mixed with Hurrian that later became Aramaic words that coincidentally meant
the
same thing as the Hebrew words Jacob used 'heap of witness (testimony)'."

Yes, that is my basic theory of the case. However, I do not think that in
Hebrew, ygr means only "heap". I think that in Hebrew, ygr retains its
normal
meaning of "to fear", or in context here, "to properly fear, and so honor".

There is no surprise that Aramaic may have adopted many Hurrian words. The
Aramean people displaced the Hurrians on the upper Euphrates River. Though
we
have precious few facts explaining exactly how that process worked, it seems
inevitable that the new Arameans would have been exposed to a lot of Hurrian
language.

3. You wrote: "What are you trying to prove by your ideas about this quote?
Are you trying to show that the story took place at an earlier time before
Aramaic was spoken?"

Yes. If we take at face value the scholarly assertion that the odd words at
Genesis 31: 47 are classic Aramaic, nothing else, then we must buy into the
secular scholars' assertion that the Patriarchal narratives, or at the very
least this portion of the Patriarchal narratives, are 1st millennium BCE
fiction
that is not accurately reporting the lives of the Patriarchs in the 2nd
millennium BCE. There is no attested written Aramaic before 900 BCE. So if
the
words at Genesis 31: 47 are classic Aramaic, nothing else, then this part of
the
Patriarchal narratives could not have been composed before the 9th century
BCE
at the earliest.

Moreover, consider how befuddled the author of the Patriarchal narratives
would be, if he is viewing Jacob's uncle Laban as being a member of the
Aramean
tribe, who spoke Aramaic. Such people are 1st millennium BCE people, who are
profoundly out of place in the Patriarchal narratives, which purport to be
telling us about the first Hebrews in the 2nd millennium BCE.

So in fact, a lot is riding on the analysis of Genesis 31: 47. If there is
no Hurrian or other pre-Aramaic basis for that odd phrase at Genesis 31: 47,
then the historicity of the Patriarchal narratives (or at least this portion
of
the Patriarchal narratives) would take a big hit.

4. I have not yet set forth my Hurrian analysis. When I do, it is sure to
be controversial. But you are understanding exactly where I am going with
this.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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