Biblical Hebrew Forum

[belaga AT math.u-strasbg.fr]

Quoting "John M. Linebarger" <jmlineb AT comcast.net>:

> I'd like to add my voice to the chorus contemplating the creation of  
>  a new list.  IMHO, b-hebrew has drifted from its original intent.    
> It has now largely become the "Use and misuse semitic languages to   
> argue about Biblical history" list instead of the "Ask questions   
> about Biblical Hebrew language and syntax" list.  B-greek is a   
> wonderful example of a list that has maintained its original focus   
> on Biblical Greek language and syntax, largely due to the firm but   
> benign dictatorship of its moderator, Carl Conrad.
>
> So let me challenge the moderators.  Are you willing to exercise   
> some discipline and return to the original conception of the list?    
> Or should some of us simply form a new list (called "Reformed   
> B-Hebrew" or "B-Hebrew-Language") and switch our list memberships   
> accordingly?
>
> John M. Linebarger, PhD (Computer Science)
> Albuquerque, NM, USA

One cannot object your desire to have a pure linguistic forum on  
Biblical Hebrew. Go and do it.

The problem is not that the original intentions of the founders of  
this forum, highlighted by Harold Holmyard, have been appently too  
large -- I would say, arbitrary large -- from your point of view. The  
problem is in the very nature of Biblical Hebrew and of its study  
correctly reflected in the founding statement of this forum.

Your comparison with B-greek language, its studies, and the B-G-forum  
is very helpful: it helps us to understand why one cannot do the same  
for B-hebrew, even with the best intentions like yours. It is because  
the bottom historical line for B-Greek is the time of Jesus, but there  
is no bottom historical line for B-Hebrew, and even most simple  
linguistic inquiries about it lead us sometimes to reflect on  
questions which are certainly not linguistic.

But if you decide to create a "pure" B-H-forum, I will respectfully  
joint it, too.

******************************************************
Dr. Edward G. Belaga
Institut de Recherche en Mathématique Avancée
Universite Louis Pasteur
7, rue René Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
tel.: 333 90 24 02 35, FAX: 333 90 24 03 28 , cellular: 336 76 29 63 04
e-mail : edward.belaga AT math.u-strasbg.fr
******************************************************


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