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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Hebrew as a holy language

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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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  • From: George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>
  • To: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Hebrew as a holy language
  • Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 21:57:15 +1000

James,

It seems that you're not entirely clear on what I mean by evidence that
circumvents circular reasoning. When I say that there is practically no
evidence for Hebrew in the EBA, I'm talking about evidence outside of the
Bible that might act as a control or point of comparison for the Hebrew
Bible. You can't then appeal to the Bible as evidence of EBA Hebrew (or
whatever you want to call it). That's completely circular, and what we're
trying to avoid.

You also seem to have missed the point about the 'world of the text'. In the
world of the text, Moses speaks Hebrew. He doesn't speak Egyptian, and he
doesn't write in Egyptian. He speaks and writes Hebrew. That much is certain.
Now, what a real historical Moses who lived and breathed in our world did or
didn't do is another issue entirely. I can see why you'd want to extrapolate
from the biblical text about a real historical Moses. However, you have to
justify the move from the world of the biblical text to the real world and
show how they are 1-to-1 the same, because logically speaking it's not
immediately apparent.

If I apply the standard you're using to all literature, I'll end up
concluding that there once was a family of bears that lived in the woods
somewhere, and they ate porridge and spoke English. In other words, there can
be some silly conclusions as a result of bad logic.



Regards,

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





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