Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

>>> De: Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
Data: Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:35:31 -0800 (PST)

>>> Why don't check the Ketef Hinom Silver Amulet,
its content, and its date?

uri, thanks for your enlightening info which is new to me. 

the dating i got from wikipedia is around 600 BC, and it seems 
to be the earliest known biblical text. i agree with you 
that this is (marginally) 1st temple. 

AND, it is written in hebrew characters.

so, my general claim is still pretty much correct: any discussion about 
biblical text written in cuneiform before 600BC is sheer speculation
at this point. 

this is for jim, taken from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketef_Hinnom   :

Dr. Wayne Pitard has stated that although evidence for the antiquity of the
Priestly Blessing is now compelling, this does not necessarily mean that the
Book of Numbers already existed at that time.[5] 

Dr. James R. Davila has similarly pointed out that the idea that the scrolls
are "proof that the Five Books of Moses were in existence during the First
Temple period" (as described in an article in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz)
is "an overinterpretation of the evidence." He nonetheless acknowledged that
the find proves that at least "some of the material found in the Five Books of
Moses existed in the First Temple period."[7]