Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Just so that everyone here understands what Lloyd and Harold are talking 
about: while excavating a tomb in Jerusalem in 1979, Barkay found two tiny 
silver amulets, which, when unrolled, contained two slightly different 
versions of the "Priestly Benediction" of Num. 6:24-26. The tomb, and the 
amulets, are dated to about 600 BCE, just prior to the destruction of the 
First Temple, and indeed, this is the first time that something similar to a 
biblical quotation has been found in a First Temple Period inscription. I 
write "something similar to a biblical quotation" because there are actually 
severl differences between the exact text of Num. 6:24-26 and the versions 
found on the two amulets, but they are similar enough.

Does this spell "the death of minimalism", or "the triumph of maximalism"? 
Well, that depends on how you define "minimalism" and "maximalism". If a 
"minimalist" is someone who believes that the entire Hebrew Bible was 
composed out of nothing in the Second Temple Period, well, this find would 
seem to disprove that claim. But I know of NO "minimalist" who actually 
would go that far. On the other hand, if a "Maximalist" is someone who 
beleives that the Bible is entirely inerrant, well, this does NOT go 
anywhere near proving that either.

What DOES this find prove? It proves that a forumla very similar to Num. 
6:24-26 was used as a blessing in late Iron Age Jerusalem. It does NOT prove 
that the entire text of the Torah was already known. It does NOT prove that 
Num. 6:24-26 was recited by priests in the Temple. It does not even prove 
the existance of Solomon's Temple. All it DOES prove is that the author of 
whatever source Num. 6:24-26 was taken from knew of a blessing-formula and 
used it as part of his composition.

"Minimalism" and "maximalism" are relative terms, usually used by people 
when describing someone else. Such titles do little to further scholarly 
debate.

Yigal Levin


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harold Holmyard" <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>
> HH: Here is an article on the silver scroll:
>
> http://www.crystalinks.com/scrollsilver.html
>
> HH: I will try to see the program you mentioned.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard



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