Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uzi Silber <uzisilber AT gmail.com>]

Karl, Stoney and all,

Though a yeshiva educated,hebrew-fluent bible enthusiast, I am a thoroughly
agnostic Jew and assume here no divine meaning.
But it is telling that Asher and Ashera share a symbol, isnt it?




On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 1:29 PM, Stoney Breyer <
stoneyb AT touchwoodcreative.com> wrote:

> Karl:
>
> You are confusing four things:
>
> * the origin and meaning of the name Asher, which is a question for
> philologists knowledgeable in historical and comparative linguistics, but
> has no necessary connection with
> * Leah's understanding of the name's meaning, which may reflect the real
> meaning, or folk etymology of Leah's or some subsequent time, or a graceful
> authorial pun, or a calculated authorial false etymology designed to
> obscure
> a connection between Asher and Asherah, but in any case has no necessary
> connection with
> * the historical truth of the account, which is absent Leah's own memoirs
> not recoverable, but in any case has no necessary connection (particularly
> if you regard the text as divinely inspired) with
> * the date at which the account was composed, whether in Moses' time or
> Ezra's or Judas the Hammer's
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of K Randolph
>
> If one accepts that Genesis is true history and contains an accurate
> account
> of why Leah name one of her sons Asher, then no way. The story records that
> the name is based upon the expectation that she would be counted as happy
> because she bore a son.
>
> On the other hand, if one accepts the modern mythology that Genesis was
> first penned over a millennium after the events were recorded to have
> happened, then I suppose that anything goes. But this is speculation that
> has no basis in the text.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
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