Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

2 Chron. 14:7-14 tells of Asa king of Judah being attacked by one "Zerah the
Cushute". Since there is no external evidence for this story, nor is it
mentioned in the parallel account of Asa's rule in 1 Kings, many historians
doubt its authenticity in general. However, assuming that it does reflect
some sort of reality - "Cush" in the Bible usually refers to either
somewhere in Africa (Nubia, Ethiopia, Sudan) or in Sinai/Arabia (Midian). In
any case, SOUTH of Judah. The attackers make it as far as Maresha - a well
known site in southern Judah, which, according to 2 Chr. 11:8 was fortified
by Asa'a grandfather Rehoboam. From there, Asa's army push the attackers
back as far as Gerar, which would logically be south (or southwest or
southeast). Mention of tents, camels and sheep strengthens the impression
that the enemy are desert dwellers and that they were pushed into the
desert: in fact, the Septuagint reads vs. 13 "kl h(rym" "all the towns
around Gerar" as "kl h(rbym" "all the Arabs", suggesting that the MT had
lost a Beth in copying the source. In any case, all of this makes a good
case that to the writer of this story, Gerar was generally south of Judah.

 

However, what has any of this to do with Jacob, who spent most of his time
in Beer-sheba and in Hebron?

 

 

Yigal Levin

 

From: jimstinehart AT aol.com [mailto:jimstinehart AT aol.com] 
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2010 5:11 AM
To: jimstinehart AT aol.com; leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Galilean Bethlehem?

 

Professor Yigal Levin:
 
With your permission, may I politely re-phrase my question?
 
Whether Rachel died at Bethlehem of Galilee or not depends almost entirely
on whether or not Jacob spent much of his childhood in Galilee, which in
turn depends almost entirely on whether or not GRR is GLL/GLYL/Galilee.  
 
The precise question I meant to ask you is as follows:
 
Is there anything out there prior to the time of the composition of II
Chronicles 14: 12-13 that supports the scholarly view that GRR is located in
the southwest corner of Canaan, rather than GRR being GLL/GLYL/Galilee?
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois