Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 6:03 PM, K Randolph wrote:
> Jim:
>
> This should be another of those subjects that should have its thread closed
> by the moderators, as we are just going over the same ground for the nth
> time.

...

> There were records as late as the iron age that there were still forests in
> the Negev south of the Dead Sea, so we cannot take the modern lack of
> forests as indicating a different place when other clues point to the south.

In the spirit of possible additional thread topics that the moderators may
consider limiting perhaps we could add citations of bogus historical records
regarding the plush grassy woodlands of the Negev and the like.

> One of the criticisms of Gesenius and his disciples BDB is that can
> legitimately be leveled against them is that they make too much use of
> cognate languages in understanding Hebrew terms. The whole definition of
> cognate languages is that they are different languages—they use different
> terms and some of the same terms they use in vastly different ways.
> Sometimes referencing cognate languages can help in understanding, at other
> times can lead astray.

Additionally, threads and posts criticizing comparative linguistics as
inappropriate
to the understanding of Hebrew, whether entirely or just by degree ("too much
use").  It is one thing to have a discussion of Biblical Hebrew on the basis 
of
standard linguistics, but it is another thing when every little
concept in modern
linguistics has to be re-established in long threads.  Those who don't accept
Modern Linguistics don't have to accept them, but this list is not the place 
to
debate the underlying concepts, or to intervene in every thread that makes use
of such concepts to say they don't agree.

Additional topics could include:

* That Biblical Hebrew was a CV language.
* That vowels in Hebrew are really pronouns interspaced between the roots.
* That reference to eminent scholars' views is faulty argumentation simply
because the author avoids going to the library and dislikes the idea that he
can't fully look up the quoted view without going to the library.
* That someone on the list doesn't know Hebrew, even if he is a recognized
scholar of Biblical Hebrew, and even if he is just a guy trying to grasp a 
hold
of the standard grammars.  This comes especially when it is voiced by those
who failed to master the Hebrew grammar and vocalization and believe that
rereading the Hebrew Bible a few dozen times without vocalization while it is
printed in "authentic" Old Hebrew font has given them a superior grasp of
Hebrew compared to others on the list.

Yitzhak Sapir