Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Hedrick Gary <GaryH AT cjfm.org>]

Yes, Karl, I think it makes sense. Things were not always as cut-and-dried in 
the Semitic ANE as we western linear-thinking folks would like them to be. 
Even a term like kohen/kohenim has a certain range of meaning.

Gary Hedrick
San Antonio, Texas USA

On Sep 15, 2011, at 8:23 PM, K Randolph wrote:

> Gary:
> 
> The tack taken by the LXX is that the sons became high palace officials.
> 
> Another thought that just came to mind is that “priests” in early Egyptian 
> history were members of the royal family, a sinecure for princes who would 
> never become pharaoh. (Hence, when Joseph married the daughter of the 
> priest of On, he married into the royal family to strengthen his loyalty to 
> the pharaoh.) Hence “priest” did not necessarily refer to a exclusively 
> religious cultic function, rather it included a royal function as well. 
> Does this make sense?
> 
> Karl W. Randolph.