To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Who named Ichabod? 1 Sam. 4:19-22
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 23:27:08 +1000
The unresponsiveness of Phinehas' wife indicates that she refuses to
acknowledge the
child. In such cases, a refusal to acknowledge the child means that the child
is unwanted
and would, therefore, be left out in a field either to die or for someone
else to take and
care for (cf the imagery in Ezekiel 16). I suspect the implication in the
narrative here
is that the babe was abandoned, just as the Ark had been.
A good book on social customs of this sort is Matthews & Benjamin, "Social
World of
Ancient Israel".
Best regards,
GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)
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Re: Who named Ichabod? 1 Sam. 4:19-22
, (continued)