Biblical Hebrew Forum

[dwashbur AT nyx.net]

We could always diverge into this subject and play with canopy theory...

(ducking now!)

On 20 May 2009 at 8:39, James Read wrote:

> I think that what seems to be happening here is a classic problem of  
> 'same data different interpretation'
> 
> George seems to be taking the data of many ancient cultures using long  
> survival ages of their ancestors and interpreting this as a customary  
> device to exaggerate the life span of your ancestors.
> 
> Other people might take the same data and conclude that if that, that  
> must mean that people really did live for longer than we do today at  
> one time. There are so many independent cultures claiming the same  
> thing that it must have some historical basis.
> 
> James Christian
> 
> 
> 
> Quoting George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>:
> 
> > Hi Karl.
> >
> > What I meant by "Ok..." is that even if you've made one part of a   
> > text 'believable', there are still other parts of the text that also  
> >  need to be made 'believable'. You have to agree that people living   
> > for centuries is beyond what we can tell as 'normal'. Just think   
> > about Ps 89.10 - 70 or 80 years is a good life. You have to come up   
> > with a believable hypothesis for how people lived for centuries at   
> > one point in time. My hypothesis is that this is a literary device   
> > and that people didn't actually live for centuries. This is not the   
> > same as saying it's lying or incoherent, which is what you're   
> > implying your 'third option' is about. It's simply saying that at   
> > one point, this is how people talked about the past.
> >
> > Finally, I know my beliefs mean nothing to you, which is why I added  
> >  "FWIW". If you like, we can talk about that offlist.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > GEORGE ATHAS
> > Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
> > www.moore.edu.au
> >
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> >
> >
> 
> 
> 
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Dave Washburn

Ibuprofen, Hebuprofen, Shebuprofen, Theybuprofen, wouldn't you like to be a 
profen too?