Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Canaan as the Original Homeland of the Hebrews: Part II
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:53:50 -0700 (PDT)
--- On Wed, 6/25/08, JimStinehart AT aol.com <JimStinehart AT aol.com> wrote:
> (b) The author of the Patriarchal narratives portrays the first
> Hebrews as being indigenous to Canaan, speaking west Semitic perfectly
> from birth, and hence having no trouble communicating with the
> Canaanites, or with Hurrians in Canaan who had learned to speak
> west Semitic.
No-one speaks any language perfectly from the moment of birth, except maybe
the likes of Dr. MLK Jr. We learn from our mothers first (dads too), and
Sesame Street still plays a big role for many. If the author of the PN has
Avram not born and raised in Canaan, even if his distant ancestors were, what
grounds are there for the presumption, other than say ethnicity, that the
author of PN believed Avram spoke west Semitic as a first language? He
presumably would not.