Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] the intended consumer of biblical hebrew language

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>
  • To: Stoney Breyer <stoneyb AT touchwoodcreative.com>
  • Cc: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] the intended consumer of biblical hebrew language
  • Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:16:03 -0500

An interesting theory, the secular nature of the biblical hebrew language;
but one bereft of factual support. Indeed, the sole witness to the language
includes a highly religious document, aka the masoretic text; and its dead
sea scrolls fragmentary predecessor. The internal testimony of that document
further confirms the intended religious nature of the language itself, given
the announced purpose of the nation writing the language.

ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש

שמות 19:6


As for the consumer of the written language, the priestly monopolistic and
exploitative behavior that you propose, could have occurred only in the
general absence of written words or scrolls. Such generally accepted rarity
of written materials itself implies the illiteracy of the 14th century
hebrew, and the corresponding exclusivity of the written document for the
ruling class.

regards,

fred burlingame



On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Stoney Breyer <
stoneyb AT touchwoodcreative.com> wrote:

> FB: Biblical hebrew language appears created and used for the sole purpose
> of revealing a deity.
>
> SB: The purpose you infer may be loosely ascribed to the entire anthology,
> but not necessarily to any component and certainly not to the language. You
> could make exactly the same claim about Gothic.
>
> FB: Nehemiah 8:8 implies the highly trained scribes and/or priests
> represented the exclusive and intended consumers of the written biblical
> language. These temple officials orally explained the meaning of the written
> language to the people.
>
> SB: It implies quite the opposite: that the intended consumer was the
> people. The presence of interpreters can be taken to imply that the language
> was not readily understandable; but it can equally be taken to imply that
> these experts exploited their effective monopoly of the text to impose their
> own interpretation and exclude understandings they regarded as dangerous or
> disadvantageous.
>
> Stoney Breyer
> Writer/TWC
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page