Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Dear Bryant,

You're right, the basic assumption underlying my statement is a
source-critical methodology, which is universally accepted in modern
biblical studies. Your statement is basically a declaration of faith: since
the Bible says that God is the "author" of the "Priestly Benediction", than
He is". That's fine in the context of a faith-based discussion, which is NOT
what this list is about. My post was a reaction to a previous statement,
that the "silver scrolls" somehow disproved "minimalism". One cannot
"prove", "disprove" or even discuss anything, unless we first have a common
ground for discussion. The common ground here is that the methodologies that
are used in the scholarly world are valid, and that simple statements of
faith are not.

There is a very big difference between "maximalism" and "fundamentalism"
(which I do not mean in a negative way and appologize if anyone here is
offended by the term). "Maximalism" is a scholarly methodology, by which one
can accept anything that is not made very unlikely by known archaeological
or other empirical evidence. In other words, EVEN a "maximalist" would not
take the statement in Josh. 10:13 about the sun and the moon standing still
literally, since this contradicts so much of what we know about the physical
universe. Instead, he would try to find a "rational" explanation. A 
"fundamentalist" would say "God can do whatever he likes, so if the Bible 
says it happened, it did". Both approaches are legitimate within their own 
contexts, but you can't carry arguments from one to the other. In other 
words, if you want to have a dialogue with "minimalists", you have to accept 
the basic methodology, of which minimalism is one possible conclusion. If 
you don't you're not holding a dialogue, you're preaching.

Yigal Levin



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>
To: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>; "b-hebrew"
<b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "the Silver Scrolls"


> Dear Yigal,
>
> YL:    "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."
>
> Bryant:    Source Criticism is being used in the statement above. The text
> clearly states that it came from the LORD (vss 22-23) and that Moses was
> to tell
> Aaron and his sons what blessing was to be pronounced upon the people of
> Israel.
> That is the source: God to Moses to Aaron and his priestly sons to the
> people of
> Israel. Unless the text indicates that the priestly blessing came from
> somewhere
> else, then to postulate/speculate without any evidence to the contrary is
> letting one's presuppositions overrule the evidence.
>
> Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
> To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 11:45 AM
> Subject: [b-hebrew] "the Silver Scrolls"
>
>
> > 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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