Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com>]

I think, Karl, that these texts tell on the grass that naturally, usually grows on the roofs. Unless the owner of a house is careful to keep the roof of his house free of, say, dead leaves, bird nests, pieces of paper and other things that the wind sends away onto the air and also of grass... usually some grass grows there...

I do not think that the texts refer to a grass that would have been purposely sown on the roof.

 

This is my opinion that I hope is useful for you.

 

Hearty, .

 

Pere Porta

2013/2/26 K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>

Dear All:

This is just a little curiosity—what evidence from archaeology is there to suggest that ancient Israel houses were built grass growing on the roofs? I’m familiar with such construction from Scandinavian history, particularly Norwegian, but was the same practice done in ancient Judea?

Linguistic reason for the question comes from 2 Kings 19:26, Isaiah 37:27 and Psalm 129:6 where mention is made of the grass of the roofs. From other contexts, this is not short grass, but the type found in pastures where cattle graze.

Another possibility that these verses refer to thatch roofs, but the contexts seems to say that these are living roofs with green grass. A very different picture of houses than what I had pictured over the years.

Karl W. Randolph,

_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

-- 
Pere Porta