Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Quoting James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>:

> Anyway,
>
> I went away and tried to read the texts, for the x-gazilianth time,
> with an open mind to see if a colophon interpretation makes any sense.
> I noticed the following inconsistencies (I'm only mentioning the
> starkest):
>
> 1) Terah, the idol worshipping pagan, is one of our trusted historians
> for the account that is one of the foundations of the monotheistic
> faith???
>
> 2) Esau, just been hustled out of his rights as firstborn and cheated
> out of a blessing by taking advantage of his father's blindness, is
> the trusted historian for a history which favours his younger twin
> brother as the lineage for YHWH's chosen people???
>
> 3) After that, Jacob's history is just a list of minor events in the
> history of his brother's offspring that serve only to help us
> understand where the neighbouring nations came from???
>
> 4) The rest of Genesis, the bit that would make far more sense for
> Jacob to have been a prospective author of, is left without colophon???
>
> Is it just me, or does none of this make any sense to anybody else
> *whatsoever*?
>
> James Christian
>
> Quoting dwashbur AT nyx.net:
>
> > On 15 May 2009 at 6:40, Yitzhak Sapir wrote:
> >
> > > On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 1:07 AM,  Dave Washburn wrote:
> > >
> > > > The approach deals with much more than just title and author.  To
> > >  get the full idea one
> > > > needs to check out P. J. Wiseman, "New Discoveries in Babylonia
> > > About Genesis" (London:
> > > > Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1946) where the idea was first
> > > presented in a more or less full
> > > > form.  There's a summary of the whole approach at
> > > >
> > > > http://www.biblemysteries.com/library/genesis.htm
> > > >
> > > > The lectures Karl remembers were probably based on Wiseman's
> > > work.  I read the book in
> > > > the early 80's and it made a lot of sense.  Your reduction of it
> > > to nothing more than a
> > > > colophon of title and author doesn't do it any kind of justice.
> > >
> > > Thank you, Dave!  This reference to Wiseman is very helpful indeed.
> > > It does seem
> > > to me to be a source (if not the source) for Karl's theory.
> > >
> > > My guess is that the book you read may have actually been "Ancient
> > > records and
> > > the structure of Genesis : a case for literary unity," which was
> > > edited by Donald J
> > > Wiseman, and published 1985.
> >
> > That actually does sound like the title of the book I read way back
> > when.  I was working in a
> > Christian bookstore at the time and saw it on the shelf, and since I
> >  was allowed to borrow
> > any books I wanted from the store I was able to read it, but at the
> > time with two small
> > children I couldn't afford to buy it, and hence trying to find the
> > title again was harder than
> > pulling teeth ever thought of being.  Thanks for the update!
> >
> > > As you said, you're "not the one arguing this."  So I hope Karl will
> > > tell us if this is
> > > indeed a book where we can find more about this theory.  (It does seem
> > > so to me).
> > > Until then, I will limit my further responses to this thread.
> >
> > I find Wiseman's approach feasible, but won't go to the wall for it.
> >   That's why I'm not
> > arguing it; however, I am glad I was able to help the discussion a
> > little by tracking down the
> > writer's name.
> >
> > > An extended discussion of all this author's theory is at:
> > > http://books.google.com/books?id=0FCG2YTWFtcC&pg=PA5 (p. 5)
> > >
> > > The discussion seems to span p. 2 - 10, and I was able to access
> > > all these pages
> > > with google books.  However, p. 5 is where he starts to discuss the
> > > possibility that
> > > the toledoth is a colophon.
> >
> > Something to check out.  Thanks again!
> >
> > Dave Washburn
> >
> > Ibuprofen, Hebuprofen, Shebuprofen, Theybuprofen, wouldn't you like
> > to be a profen too?
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>
>
>
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