Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

Yitzhak,

I'm sure that you are aware that whether Karl's reading is different to
'everyone elses' is completely irrelevant to this discussion. This is not a
popularity contest. The question is whether Karl's reading is a reasonable
translation in light of the data. Even if it isn't your reading can easily
be explained by lazy yodh handling to save time in inscriptions. Just like
your gentilics. You still haven't answered either of in general terms about
what Judean Hebrew inscriptions you are talking about. I'm fairly sure that
given the data your analysis may come under similar scrutiny.

You raise a good point about cognate languages. When is a dialect a dialect
and when is it a cognate language. Armies and navies seem to be part of the
modern definition. I know of no empirical measure that can help use decide
if a language is far enough from b-hebrew to be classified as a cognate or
as a dialect. Personally, I believe there is only underlying cognate
language of thought behind all surface structures.

Finally, I think you are over internet use. Sending an offlist attachment to
those interested is not posting on the internet by any definition of the
words. You will only succeed in alienating interested parties, like Karl and
I, from your point of view if you continue with this line and don't show any
willingness to defend your theory. It's your theory. Defend it. Bring it out
into the open and allow us to scrutinise it.

So far all I've seen is two small inscriptions which are Judean Hebrew with
a few yodhs missing. I'm sorry to put this in perspective so brutally but
that's all I've seen to date.

James Christian