Biblical Hebrew Forum

[dwashbur AT nyx.net]

On 5 Jan 2011 at 21:17, fred burlingame wrote:

> i do not believe that most college educated people in america today
> can pick
> up the book of isaiah or ezekiel (in english language), read it,
> and
> understand its multiple layer metaphors .... much less hear it
> read
> once, and understand it. ditto for the song of moses in
> deuteronomy.
> 
> What about people who have no formal education such 882 b.c., judah?
> Who
> have never read a written book or scroll? Even less so the
> comprehension of
> an elevated expression of the language such as isaiah.
> 
> people speak and write differently. you are projecting your years
> of
> studying written hebrew onto the goat herder of 882 b.c., judah who
> never
> read a written book.

You just love making these illegitimate comparisons, don't you?  The song of 
Moses in 
Deuteronomy is from a totally different age, translated from a different 
language and culture.  
Likewise Ezekiel and Isaiah.  But if you really want to compare 
understanding, a better 
comparison would be the average American reading a newspaper.  Most papers 
are written 
in language that the general populace can follow, since English is their 
native language and 
the forms and figures used are those taken from everyday life.  Your 
hypothetical goat 
herder would have been in the same situation with Deuteronomy, because it was 
written in 
his native language, used images that he was intimately familiar with, and 
talked about 
concepts that he had learned from his parents beginning at a very early age.  
So again you 
want to compare apples and rabbits.  Please get it through your head that 
these 
comparisons are not valid, and stop trying to use them.
 
> the pomegranate seller on the street does not speak in the language
> of the
> song of moses.

And precisely how do you know this?  You haven't cited a single shred of 
evidence beyond 
your apples-to-rabbits comparisons.  You've gotten some excellent instruction 
and advice 
from some of the outstanding scholars that we get to rub shoulders with on 
this list.  Maybe 
you should listen to them and rethink your unsupportable ideas.

Dave Washburn

http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur