Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 12:53 PM, <JimStinehart AT aol.com> wrote:

>  Karl:
>
> You wrote:  "Another example is Numbers 21:14 where the people never
> followed the
> messengers."
>
> Is that the correct citation?  Of course, the Bible knows how to say that
> people did not follow messengers, but the question is the meaning of the
> particular phrase used at Genesis 32:3/4.
>
> Could you please clarify your citation to Numbers 21: 14?  Messengers are
> sent at Numbers 20: 14 and at Numbers 21: 21, but I'm not seeing the phrase
> we're discussing from Genesis 32: 3/4.
>
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
No we don’t see exactly the same terminology, but we see the same action,
that in Numbers the messengers were sent before the face of the people to
the various kings. For those of us who think functionally, a slight
difference in terminology doesn’t faze us. For those who think formally,
they get hung up on slight changes in phraseology even when the exact same
action is carried through.

A discussion of the different ways of thinking is found in:
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Hebrew_thought

Karl W. Randolph.