Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

I risk possible repetition of previous arguments but i havent followed 
the full discussion on jim's malkizedeq. let me just make
several short remarks:

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1.

the 13 years do not refer to the egyptian calendar or any other calendar.
according to the text, it refers to the number of years the kings cited were
vassals. so, unless the initial year is dated, it cannot be used to
dating the final, 13th, year. and vice versa.

similarly, the fine grammatical point concerning the 13th year 
seems irrelevant.

  שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה, עָבְדוּ אֶת-כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר; וּשְׁלֹשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה 
שָׁנָה, מָרָדוּ.     4 
  Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year 
  they rebelled.
ה  וּבְאַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בָּא כְדָרְלָעֹמֶר, וְהַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר 
אִתּוֹ, וַיַּכּוּ אֶת-רְפָאִים בְּעַשְׁתְּרֹת 
 קַרְנַיִם,  
וְאֶת-הַזּוּזִים בְּהָם; וְאֵת, הָאֵימִים, בְּשָׁוֵה, קִרְיָתָיִם.    5 
  And in the fourteenth year came
  Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in
  Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 

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2. 

examining e.g. the war against mesha, described in the mesha stele and
the OT, the discrepancies are so big that i wonder if a clear historical
picture can be drawn. the same should be said about the war between the
kings.

http://atheism.about.com/od/ancientmythologyreligion/ig/Lebanon-Phoenician-Photos/Mesha-Stele-Moab.htm

----------------------

3. 

i assume that monotheistic ideas spread in egypt and canaan, as an 
alternative to polytheism, practiced by various minority groups. abraham
and akhnathon were merely the first to be recognized as officializers of
a new religion, and it is quite possible that many others passed unnoticed,
maybe malkizedeq among them.

the mention of el elyon qoneh shamayim waarec, for me, is sufficient to
coin malkizedeq's religion as fully monotheistic, in parallel to abraham's,
assuming the text faithfully reflects the events. 

a common source may also be conjectured. i dont know much about the 
religion of the early aramaic tribes of which apparently abraham
descended. but according to
 
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_Hebrew_religion_similar_to_Aramaic

they worshipped .... EL (sic!), just as malkicedeq and abraham.

------------------------------

4.

reference to foreign god names usually are believed to be faithful 
to the way they were uttered by their followers. in the OT: baal, asherah,
kmosh, dagon and others. in mesha's stele (700 bc), it is yehowah: the
earliest non-jewish mention (and the earliest primary evidence) 
of this name.

nir cohen