Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

This is so ridiculous!

On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 1:48 PM, <jimstinehart AT aol.com> wrote:

…

4.  Finally, Karl W. Randolph weighed in as follows:  “There’s another consideration that was common before the typewriter:  even in societies with near universal literacy, there was ready employment for anyone who could write with good, clear penmanship.”

But that’s not the issue here.  First and foremost was determining precisely what this ancient text was.  Hilkiah gave it to the scribe to read, and then later the scribe read it to King Josiah.  Penmanship isn’t the issue.  Rather, the problem was that this ancient sacred text was written in cuneiform (using west Semitic words), and accordingly the only one in Jerusalem who could read it was Shaphan the scribe, who as part of his regular duties read cuneiform letters sent to Judah from Assyria and Babylonia.

By this time Torah scrolls were written using iron age font, examples of which were used as late as a couple of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hilkiah recognized the importance of this scroll because he could read it, therefore he didn’t throw it out with the trash, but gave it to the scribe to bring to the king. 

 

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois

You need to bring evidence to back up your theories, but so far you have but conjecture upon conjecture.

Karl W. Randolph.