Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

Just as I expected, you don’t have any information to back up your claims.

First of all, the Bible mentions only one new year a year. The second one
was brought back from Babylon after the Babylonian captivity. Even then, the
Bible mentions only some of the names of the Babylonian months, not that the
Babylonians had a different new years as well. Joel Salomon is right, three
of the Hebrew months are known, I think “month of Abyb” is the name of the
first month, hence a fourth name. Therefore, evidence from the Babylonian
calendar is not admissible in court of scholarship concerning the
Patriarchal dates.

As far as your claim about N(R, apparently you believe that the spies that
Joshua sent to spy out Jericho were mere lads, about 10–12 years old (Joshua
6:23), or for late Hebrew, mere lads rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and
fought against seasoned warriors to protect the construction effort
(Nehemiah 4:10 Hebrew numbering).

As for the Gezar Calendar, I can read it, therefore you should be able to as
well, right? Furthermore, from your agricultural background (you have that,
being from the Mid-West, right?) you’ll recognize that the months are out or
order. As listed:

There’s the month when the sheaves are gathered in (spring)
There’s the month when the fields are sown (fall)
There’s the month when the livestock are sent out to graze (summer)
There’s the month when flax is retted (summer)
There’s the month when rye is harvested (early spring, I expect that you
remember that rye has a shorter growing season than wheat, hence it will be
harvested earlier)
There’s the month when grapes are harvested and completed (late fall)
There’s the month when we prune (late winter, early spring)
There’s the month of summer fruit (summer).

Then in the lower left corner there is the word “My father”.

(The above is my translation.)

So, as you can see, the Gezar Calendar can give no clues to back up your
claims.

This looks like you have pulled another theory out of thin air, with no
scholarship to back it up.

Karl W. Randolph.