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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] the value of loanwords was qohelet

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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] the value of loanwords was qohelet
  • Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:59:26 +1000

Karl,

None of those references are sufficient to count as sustained meaningful
contact. First of all, 1 Kgs 10.24 says that the whole world came to hear
Solomon. Do you think that is literal? If so, is there evidence of loanwords
into Hebrew from every single language at the time? This is just not
convincing. And we are not talking about one word. There are at least two
(though you deny one of them through a very odd etymology), both of which
point to the influence of a Persian elite/administration. And yet, Solomon,
out of all the multitudes who came to have an audience with him, singled out
the (at the time) relatively insignificant Persians and chose two of their
words that had to do with royal prestige/administration (even though the
Persians were relatively insignificant), modified them through Aramaic, and
then years later used them in Hebrew to describe what he'd done years before
in a book that doesn't even bear his name? Yes, of course that's *possible*,
Karl. But if you can't even admit the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the
loanwords made their way into Hebrew (and other languages) during the Persian
Era, then I don't think you're being open to evidence, and we have nothing
further to discuss.


Regards,

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




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