Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Hi,

Quoting George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>:

> Eva,
>
> Firstly, could you please change the subject line of your posting in  
>  order to reflect the conversation thread. If you are receiving   
> B-Hebrew in digest mode, you'll have to do this manually. But it   
> would be appreciated by all, and ensure that you're included in a   
> subject thread.
>
> Now to your message:
>
> You are applying your own belief (to which you are, of course,   
> entitled - as we all are) to the significance of the mention of a   
> 'Hebrew dialect' in Acts 26.14. The verse says nothing overtly about  
>  Hebrew being a 'chosen' language, unless what you mean by 'chosen'   
> is simply that it was the language that Jesus 'chose' to speak to   
> Paul in the text of Acts. There is a bit of a gap between choosing a  
>  language for communication and determining that language to be  
> 'holy'.
>
> What if Saul/Paul had spoken Swahili? Would he still have been   
> addressed in a 'Hebrew dialect'? What good would that have done?   
> Note Acts 2.6-12. This is, however, getting off topic for B-Hebrew.
>
> Finally, and perhaps most ironically, Acts 26.14 is written in Koine Greek.

This is, ironically, open to debate. There are both Syriac and Coptic  
traditions as well as the Greek tradition. I'm not taking sides but  
there is an argument for Syriac primacy of many texts. The church of  
Antioch defends this primacy to this very day.

James Christian



> Regards,
>
> GEORGE ATHAS
> Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
> www.moore.edu.au
>
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