Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ishinan" <ishinan AT comcast.net>]

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III wrote:

"Any notion that Hebrew was somehow special among languages since it was the 
language of Scripture was dispelled in the 18th c., when philological study 
was able to trace Hebrew back to the Semitic language family.

It was in that century that the name Semitic was coined to refer to languages 
spoken in those areas of the Near East that the Bible purports to have been 
settled by descendants of Shem:"


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

Dear Rev. Bryant,

To begin with, I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but the words 
"Semites," or "Semitic," do not occur in the Bible. 

What has been overlooked is that the term "Semitic", since its inception, has 
been a gross misnomer. 

To clarify this MISNOMER, lets go back to the "18th century  philological 
study" you mentioned above. 

"The term Semite was coined by August Ludwig von Schlözer, in Eichhorn's 
"Repertorium", vol. VIII (Leipzig, 1781), p. 161. Since then, it has become a 
fixed technical term which is explained as an adjective derived from Shem, 
one of the three sons of Noah in the Bible (Genesis 5.32, 6.10, 10.21)." 

While Schlözer enjoyed the reputation of an erudite scholar who developed a 
colorful structure for a universal history, he also had the reputation of 
playing fast and loose with facts. Schlözer, being a jack of all trades and 
master of none, could write about Old Norse topics and Phoenician seafaring 
with such ease, as to give the impressions of in-depth knowledge. 

Take for example his speculation that the Sun and the Earth had only been in 
existence for 10,000 years. Such an idea was considered, to say the least, 
off the wall even by 18th century standards.  Worse, his amateurish proposal, 
according to him, was adopted from foreign historians. Interestingly enough, 
Schlözer never bothered to reveal the sources to buttress his preposterous 
ideas. 

Since the days of Schlözer, science has made great leaps.  We now know that 
the age of the earth and sun is around 4.54 billion years. We are in the 21st 
century, and these antiquated ideas from the 18th century cannot be taken as 
"whole cloth" anymore.  Yet we cling to Schlözer's "Semitic" terminology, 
without question and continue to accept it as describing a distinct race of 
people descendent from Shem, rather than a linguistic term depicting 
different peoples speaking cognate languages.  

Unfortunately, we presently are stuck with the term, which historically is 
incorrect in describing the group of cognate languages dubbed "Semitic".

Schlözer's "Semitic" misnomer can be readily discredited, but this will be 
discussed in another post.

All the best.

Ishinan Ishibashi
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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Biblical Hebrew: Is it West or Central Semitic
        Family?
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Dear Ishinan,

I will not comment on the issue of the age of the earth and the Theory of 
Evolution (I will offlist) since that would be against List Guidelines.

Thank you for the source of "August Ludwig von Schl?." (BTW, is the spelling 
correct?) I will look at Eichorn's work.

I am very much aware that the terms "Semite," Semitic," et cetera are not 
found in the Tanakh, but does not mean that that is the correct term to 
describe the language group. I would say that "Semitic" coming from "Shem" 
would make sense since "h" is not pronounced in English. But even then there 
must be other sources from the 19th-20th Century that corroborated or 
debunked "von Schl??"

Second, I would remind you that "Palestine" for the ancient land of Judah and 
Israel is also a misnomer since it was used by the Romans as a way of 
insulting the Jews after the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132 BCE.

Third, if Hebrew, Phoenician, Aramaic, Arabic, et cetera is not the Semitic 
language group, then what group would you call it? It definitely NOT 
Indo-European. Its grammar, syntax and other features are definitely 
different. There may be some similarities, but it is the differences that 
stand out.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ishinan 
  To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org 
  Cc: Bryant J. Williams III 
  Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 5:15 PM
  Subject: RE: Biblical Hebrew: Is it West or Central Semitic Family?


  Rev. Bryant J. Williams III wrote:

  "Any notion that Hebrew was somehow special among languages since it was 
the language of Scripture was dispelled in the 18th c., when philological 
study was able to trace Hebrew back to the Semitic language family.

  It was in that century that the name Semitic was coined to refer to 
languages spoken in those areas of the Near East that the Bible purports to 
have been settled by descendants of Shem:"


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

  Dear Rev. Bryant,

  To begin with, I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but the words 
"Semites," or "Semitic," do not occur in the Bible. 

  What has been overlooked is that the term "Semitic", since its inception, 
has been a gross misnomer. 

  To clarify this MISNOMER, lets go back to the "18th century  philological 
study" you mentioned above. 

  "The term Semite was coined by August Ludwig von Schl?, in Eichhorn's 
"Repertorium", vol. VIII (Leipzig, 1781), p. 161. Since then, it has become a 
fixed technical term which is explained as an adjective derived from Shem, 
one of the three sons of Noah in the Bible (Genesis 5.32, 6.10, 10.21)." 

  While Schl? enjoyed the reputation of an erudite scholar who developed a 
colorful structure for a universal history, he also had the reputation of 
playing fast and loose with facts. Schl?, being a jack of all trades and 
master of none, could write about Old Norse topics and Phoenician seafaring 
with such ease, as to give the impressions of in-depth knowledge. 

  Take for example his speculation that the Sun and the Earth had only been 
in existence for 10,000 years. Such an idea was considered, to say the least, 
off the wall even by 18th century standards.  Worse, his amateurish proposal, 
according to him, was adopted from foreign historians. Interestingly enough, 
Schl? never bothered to reveal the sources to buttress his preposterous 
ideas. 

  Since the days of Schl?, science has made great leaps.  We now know that 
the age of the earth and sun is around 4.54 billion years. We are in the 21st 
century, and these antiquated ideas from the 18th century cannot be taken as 
"whole cloth" anymore.  Yet we cling to Schl?'s "Semitic" terminology, 
without question and continue to accept it as describing a distinct race of 
people descendent from Shem, rather than a linguistic term depicting 
different peoples speaking cognate languages.  

  Unfortunately, we presently are stuck with the term, which historically is 
incorrect in describing the group of cognate languages dubbed "Semitic".

  Schl?'s "Semitic" misnomer can be readily discredited, but this will be 
discussed in another post.

  All the best.

  Ishinan Ishibashi


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