Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz>]

B-Hebrewers,

I was away for several days so wasn't able to contribute to the discussion
on evidence. My silence wasn't intentional.

I noticed this thread started by Gabe and would like to look at a slightly
different aspect from Deut 23: 12,14. If we recall the vast numbers of
people said to have undertaken the Exodus here are a few verses which seem
inconsistent with such a huge camp. I'm sure someone will point out that I'm
taking this out of context because it is supposed to be instructions about
what to do once they were in the land. That aside, my point is that the
instructions given in these verses are only workable if ``the camp'' is very
small. A ``camp'' of a number of square kilometers (square miles for our US
friends) could not use this method of sewage disposal.

I think this is some of the problem with trying to date the books. There
appears to be a kernel of historical memory within them overlaid with much
material from later times.


Bill Rea Ph.D., ICT Services, University of Canterbury \_
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