Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Gad:

A few comments below.

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 9:08 AM, G. Zack <atdgz AT hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Yigal,
>
> ...



> I made the humble claim


Doesn't it take a lot of chutzpah to contradict an ancient document without
ancient records to provide cover?


> that being based on an oral tradition,


Writing was known and practiced then, what's to prevent it having been
written at the same time as it was composed?


> the roots of which can be pin-pointed to circa 1200,


How?


> one may speculatively


speculation, in the absence of evidence?


>  ask, why would it be composed much later (even though it could have been,
> of course)? If we assume


More speculation?


> that upon successful departure from Egypt


How do you know there were escapees?


> the escapees felt, indeed grateful and came up with a hymn, the Song of the
> Sea, they must have done it upon joining the other Israelite elements


What makes you think there were other Israelite elements?


> and within the same generation or, one or two generations later?   Some 0
> to some 60 years later?
>
> There is no proof here,


That's the problem.

When I grew up, my father was a math professor, and in discussions at the
table, he refused to allow us to make statements apart from evidence or
proof. Speculation was a definite no-no, unless it was labelled
"speculation",


> just somewhat of a common-sense


Isn't that what the old joke says, that there is nothing more uncommon than
"common sense"?


> and/or educated guess...


Upon what basis for the educated guess? Can it be educated if it is made in
a vacuum of evidence?


> Educated or common-sense in the sense that the language and content may be
> shown to be 1200-ish coupled with the absence of reason for delayed
> composition... No hard evidence. Admittedly...
>
> GAd Za"k


I now find myself taking on the role of my father when I was growing up,
refusing to allow statements apart from evidence. It doesn't need to be a
proof, just evidence. So far I have seen no evidence that this poem was not
written mid 15th century BC: there are no extra-Biblical writings that we
can point to, the "mainstream" Egyptian history as evidence was shown to
have problems already before I was born, nor any other evidence that was not
based on speculation.

On the other side, the only evidence that the poem is 15th century BC is
only one tome, and the assumption that it is telling the truth. Not much to
go on there either.

Karl W. Randolph.