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  • From: "Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>
  • To: "Rolf Furuli" <furuli AT online.no>, "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aramaic to Hebrew language switch?
  • Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:15:22 -0500

Hi Rolf:

Actually, it does have foundation in the texts themselves. Quoting Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman in The Bible Unearthed, Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. New York. The Free Press. 2001:

"This basic picture of the gradual accumulation of legends and stories- and their eventual incorporation into a single coherent saga with a definite theological outlook- was a product of that astonishingly creative period of literary production in the kingdom of Judah in the 7th century BCE. Perhaps most telling of all the clues that the book of Joshua was written at this time is the list of towns in the territory of the tribe of Judah, given in detail, in Joshua 15:21-62. The list precisely corresponds to the borders of the kingdom of Judah during the reign of Josiah. Moreover, the placenames mentioned in the list closely correspond to the 7th century BCE settlement pattern in the same region. And some of the sites were occupied ONLY IN THE FINAL DECADES OF THE 7TH CENTURY BCE."

Now I think we remain on topic only if we are discussing the use of EBH (950-586 BCE) in MBAII (1950-1550 BCE) on the subject of putative Abraham speaking pre-exilic Hebrew. If Abraham was, as the texts claim, an Aramean in MBAII he would have spoken Akkadian (Old Assyrian) and would have adopted Canaanite when he migrated from Haran to Canaan with his family. I think any foreign ("Asiatic") clan chieftain in Egypt at this time would have used Akkadian as a language of discourse with the Egyptians.

Regards,

Jack

Jack Kilmon
San Antonio, TX




--------------------------------------------------
From: "Rolf Furuli" <furuli AT online.no>
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 1:15 PM
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aramaic to Hebrew language switch?


Dear Jack,

We should all realize that ancient history cannot be proven! The conclusions of the critical historian regarding ancient Israel is just as faith-based as the view of the fundamentalists. And your claim that Genesis-2Kings were composed in the late 7th century-early 6th century B.C.E. has no foundation whatsoever; it is based on axioms, which per definition cannot be proven.

Best regards,

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo



From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 11:17 AM
To: jkilmon AT historian.net
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aramaic to Hebrew language switch?



--------------------------------------------------
From: <JimStinehart AT aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 4:10 PM
To: <randallbuth AT gmail.com>; <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aramaic to Hebrew language switch?


Ed Walkwitz and Randall Buth:

In my considered opinion, the traditional interpretation of the
Patriarchal
narratives as to Abraham's origins is completely erroneous, both textually
and historically. I view the Patriarchal narratives as portraying Abraham
as being indigenous to Canaan. That is why the first Hebrews and the
Canaa
nites spoke the same language, having only minor dialectal differences.
The
Patriarchal narratives open with Abraham on a one-time caravan trip from
Canaan way out to Ur in southern Kassite Babylonia, to buy lapis lazuli as
commercial merchandise. No, the early Hebrews weren't professional
merchants,
but this was a one-time desperation move in the face of having recently
been
reduced to living in tents in Canaan (whereas Abraham's father, Terakh, as
a
young man, and Terakh's ancestors at all times, had lived in settled
villages in a more peaceful, prosperous Canaan).

Thus YHWH speaks to Abraham at Genesis 12: 1 in perfect Hebrew, a language
that Abraham learned at his mother's knee and spoke as a native.



I always find such historical/linguistic speculation based on Biblical
narrative to be to be very awkward. It places the critical historian in the
uncomfortable position of challenging faith-based opinion and concepts. The
Biblical texts Genesis-2Kings were composed in Hebrew in the late 7th
century-early 6th century BCE. Place names and borders fit perfectly with
the reign of Josiah. The chronological context for the Patriarchal
Narrative, aside from arguments regarding historicity, is sometime in Middle
Bronze Age II (1950-1550) around 1800 BCE. The Hebrew language of the
Biblical texts did not exist at this time but if used broadly and
anachronistically for Canaanite, there was indeed a Canaanite language even
if the acrophonic abjad was not yet developed. There was also a wave of
Aramaean migration in the 2nd millennium BCE. There was a Canaanite
language in the Middle Bronze Age which a "Wandering Aramaean" could have
adopted. Canaan and Phoenicia are the same, both mean "Land of purple."
If Abraham was an historical person who migrated to Canaan with his family
in the Bronze Age, it is safe to assume they adopted the language and spoke
"purplish." When a loose confederation of nomadic tribes in Canaan became
"Hebrews" is a separate argument.

Jack

Jack Kilmon
San Antonio, TX
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