Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:

Let me answer your three questions, but in reverse order.

1.  You wrote:  “And what about the ages listed in Genesis 11:10 ff? Three
month “years”?”

I see the Patriarchal narratives, beginning at Genesis 11: 26, as being
older than the rest of the Bible.  My theory of the ages of the Patriarchs 
does
not apply to any other part of the Bible (such as Genesis 11: 10).



2.  You wrote:  “You have yet to show one ancient source that your
speculated bronze age fall and spring new years actually existed: all the 
sources
you have pointed to
 date from close to 2000 years later and later still.  Good scholarly
practice demands that you be able to present primary sources, and so far you 
have
presented none.”

Any Biblical source outside of the Patriarchal narratives is, by necessity,
going to long post-date the Patriarchal Age.  So we need to look to secular
history.  Just about the only place in Bronze Age greater Canaan having
fairly extensive written records is Ugarit.  Here is what the standard source
on ANE cultic calendars has to say about calendars and New Years in Late
Bronze Age Ugarit.  The primary source material is “the Ugaritic Myth of 
Ba’lu”
.  In order to keep this post fairly short, let me just quote the
conclusions reached on the basis of that primary source from Late Bronze Age 
greater
Canaan:

“[T]he Ugarit cultic year appears to begin in autumn and the civil year in
the spring….”  Mark E. Cohen, “The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East
” (1993), CDL Press, Bethesda, Maryland, at p. 378, quoting J.C. de Morr, “
The Seasonal Pattern in the Ugaritic Myth of Ba’lu”, AOAT 16, 61-62

If you want the primary source names of the months in Ugaritic, here are
some:  gn, hlt, hyr, ib’lt, itb, ittbnm, mgmr, nql, pgrm, ris yn, sm.

Scholars well-versed in Ugaritic literature and culture believe that Ugarit
had a New Year every 6 months:  a New Year in the fall, and a New Year in
the spring.  Each calendar was a 12-month year calendar, but the combination
of these two 12-month calendars led to there being a New Year every 6 months
in Ugarit.

There are virtually no written records from Bronze Age greater Canaan
outside of Ugarit (and the Patriarchal narratives).  Using logic, we know that
the fall rains in Canaan revive plant life in Canaan, so the fall New Year
must be the fundamental New Year in Canaan.  But Canaan has not only an annual
harvest in the fall, but also an annual harvest in the spring.  So having
one calendar with a New Year in the fall, and another calendar with a New Year
in the spring, fits Canaan nicely.  That’s what Ugarit had.  And that’s
the Jewish calendar to this very day.

3.  You wrote:  “N(R was used for young men up into their 20s. If you know
Hebrew you can find examples.”

N(R has two basic meanings.  For a named individual, it means “boy”.  For
unnamed mere servants, it means “young servants” or “young workers”.  In
that latter sense, they would often be in their upper teens, and could be in
their early 20s, but they would not be middle-aged.

I myself do not know of a named individual in the Bible who is called N(R
who is over age 15 years, in 12-month years (unless an obviously metaphorical
meaning is implied, as noted below).  On my theory of the case, the oldest
named individual who is called N(R in the Patriarchal narratives is Isaac,
at Genesis 22: 12, who is age 15 regular years at the binding incident.  It
is slightly surprising to see a young future Patriarch called N(R at age 15,
but Isaac is presented as being somewhat childlike, not quite realizing what
his father is intending to sacrifice.  Likewise, Benjamin is repeatedly
called a N(R at age 15 regular years in chapters 43 and 44 of Genesis, when 
his
father Jacob reluctantly allows Benjamin to be taken to Egypt (at the
insistence of a disguised Joseph, age 25 regular years).  Once again, like 
Isaac,
Benjamin seems a bit childlike for his age, so the label fits him.  Joseph
is a N(R at age 13 regular years, when he is in jail.  Pharaoh’s top
official, 2 regular years later (Genesis 41: 1), remembers that a N(R had 
correctly
interpreted that official’s dream in jail.  Genesis 41: 2  So 2 regular
years later, Joseph is age 15 regular years, being age 30 “years”, in 6-month 
“
years”.  Genesis 41: 46  But when Pharaoh’s top official had had Joseph
interpret his dream (2 years ago), Joseph had been a N(R, age 13.  Ishmael is
age 9½ regular years when he is repeatedly called N(R in chapter 21 of
Genesis, and as a mere boy is carried into exile on his mother Hagar’s 
shoulder.
Dinah’s would-be husband is called N(R in chapter 34 of Genesis.  Dinah’s
would-be husband, young Shechem, is likely age 13 regular years, or possibly
younger, though we cannot be certain of his age.

Outside of the Patriarchal narratives, I do not know of a person with an
individual name who is called N(R after age 15 regular years.  Solomon claims
to be but a little boy at I Kings 3: 7, but that is clearly a reverent
affectation, and is metaphorical.  Jeremiah 1: 6-7 is the same.

If you look at what Joseph does at the beginning of chapter 37 of Genesis,
you will see that all his actions make sense for an 8½-year-old boy, and
none of his actions make sense for a 17-year-old grown man.  Joseph is a boy,
not a man, at the beginning of chapter 37 of Genesis.  When Joseph is stated
at Genesis 37: 2 to be age 17 “years”, that means that Joseph has witnessed
17 New Years in total, counting both fall New Years  a-n-d  spring New
Years.


Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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