DOCSLIB.ORG

Late Biblical Hebrew and Qumran Hebrew: a Diachronic View

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Late Biblical Hebrew and Qumran Hebrew: a Diachronic View chapter 6 Late Biblical Hebrew and Qumran Hebrew: A Diachronic View Jan Joosten 1 Research Question A broad consensus exists on the general periodization of ancient Hebrew: the bulk of the prose texts of Genesis to 2 Kings are written in Classical Biblical Hebrew (CBH), reflecting roughly the monarchic period, while the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, Daniel, Esther and Ecclesiastes represent Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) of the Persian and Hellenistic periods.1 In outline this language-historical scheme goes back to Wilhelm Gesenius at the beginning of the nineteenth century.2 Although it has occasionally been challenged, it is fair to say most Hebraists uphold it in some form.3 Scholars of the Hebrew 1 See, e.g., Aaron D. Hornkohl, “Biblical Hebrew: Periodization,” EHLL 1, 315–25. See also the recent collection of studies: Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew (ed. Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé and Ziony Zevit; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2012). 2 See Jan Joosten, “Wilhelm Gesenius and the History of Hebrew in the Biblical Period,” in Biblische Exegese und hebräische Lexikographie. Das “Hebräisch-deutsche Handwörterbuch” von Wilhelm Gesenius als Spiegel und Quelle alttestamentlicher und hebräischer Forschung, 200 Jahre nach seiner ersten Auflage (ed. Stefan Schorch and Ernst-Joachim Waschke; BZAW 427; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013), 94–106. 3 Some recent publications have urged more integration between general linguistics and Hebrew studies in diachronic research on Biblical Hebrew. See, e.g., the articles by Robert D. Holmstedt, John A. Cook and B. Elan Dresher in Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew, and the monograph of Dong-Hyuk Kim, Early Biblical Hebrew, Late Biblical Hebrew and Linguistic Variability: A Sociolinguistic Evaluation of the Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts (VTSup 156; Leiden: Brill, 2013). Substantially these studies are not far removed from the existing con- sensus. A completely different view has been proposed by Ian Young and Robert Rezetko, but their arguments do not bear out their claims. See Jan Joosten, review of Ian Young and Robert Rezetko, with the assistance of Martin Ehrensvärd, Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts: An Introduction to Approaches and Problems (2 vols; London–Oakville: Equinox, 2009), in Babel und Bibel 6 (2012): 535–42. The latest book of Ian Young and Robert Rezetko is Historical Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew (Atlant, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���8 | doi:��.��63/9789004366770_007 94 Joosten Bible, even some very good ones, have sometimes given it short shrift.4 But a discipline cannot suspend its central tenets just because outsiders find them hard to understand. The durable success of the diachronic paradigm is due, it seems, to the extraordinary lineup of the data. The Hebrew of the LBH corpus is really completely unlike that of the Pentateuch and Former Prophets, as becomes especially clear when one compares prose texts representing the same lit- erary genre—say Kings and Chronicles, or the Joseph story and the Book of Esther. Moreover, the diachronic nature of the differences is manifest: mas- sive Aramaic influence on LBH vocabulary shows that this state of language is later than CBH, as do syntactic developments following typologically predict- able lines. Less assured, though still well established, are the absolute dates: CBH before the Babylonian exile, LBH after the exile. These dates might shift a bit, but not too much: links between CBH and epigraphic documents of the eighth to sixth century vouch for the date of the earlier corpus, while a series of Persian loanwords are indicative of the period when the LBH books came into being.5 Beyond the distinction between CBH and LBH, the success of the diachronic approach is much more modest. A good case has been made, and continues to be made, for the existence of an archaic BH corpus consisting of a handful of poems inserted into the CBH prose narrative.6 Similarly, the arguments for a transitional period in the history of BH, attested in such books as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah, Lamentations and Job are cogent.7 It has proved very 4 See, e.g., David M. Carr, The Formation of the Hebrew Bible: A New Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 131–32; Mark S. Smith, “Words and Their Worlds,” in Biblical Lexicology: Hebrew and Greek. Semantics—Exegesis—Translation (ed. Jan Joosten, Eberhard Bons, Regine Hunziker-Rodewald, and Romina Vergari; BZAW 443; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015), 3–31 (on p. 6). 5 The full argument for the absolute (although of course approximate) dates of CBH and LBH is longer, but this is not the right place to develop it further. Ron Hendel and the present author are preparing a monograph titled How Old is the Hebrew Bible? where this question will be discussed at more length. In the meantime, see Jan Joosten, “Variations, évolutions, rupture: une approche diachronique de l’hébreu biblique,” in Variations, évolutions, metamorphoses (ed. Bernard Pouderon and Jérôme Casas; Colloques de l’Institut Universitaire de France; Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de St-Étienne, 2012), 93–105. 6 See recently Tania Notarius, The Verb in Archaic Biblical Poetry (SSLL 68; Leiden: Brill, 2013). 7 See, e.g., on Jeremiah, Aaron D. Hornkohl, Ancient Hebrew Periodization and the Language of the Book of Jeremiah: The Case for a Sixth-Century Date of Composition (SSLL 74; Leiden: Brill, 2013); on Ezekiel, Mark F. Rooker, Biblical Hebrew in Transition: The Language of the Book of Ezekiel (Sheffield: Academic Press, 1990); on Second Isaiah, Shalom Paul, “Signs of .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Miscellaneous Biblical Studies
    MISCELLANEOUS BIBLICAL STUDIES Thomas F. McDaniel, Ph.D. © 2010 All Rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS iv I. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN BIBLICAL TRADITION 1 II. WHY THE NAME OF GOD WAS INEFFABLE 72 III. ELIMINATING ‘THE ENEMIES OF THE LORD’ IN II SAMUEL 12:14 84 IV. RECONSIDERING THE ARABIC COGNATES WHICH CLARIFY PSALM 40:7 89 V. A NEW INTERPRETATION OF PROV 25:21–22 AND ROM 12:17–21 99 VI. ARABIC COGNATES HELP TO CLARIFY JEREMIAH 2:34b 107 VII. NOTES ON MATTHEW 6:34 “SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE EVIL THEREOF” 116 VIII. WHAT DID JESUS WRITE ACCORDING TO JOHN 8:6b–8? 127 IX. NOTES ON JOHN 19:39, 20:15 AND MATT 3:7 138 X. RECOVERING JESUS’ WORDS BY WHICH HE INITIATED THE EUCHARIST 151 XI. UNDERSTANDING SARAH’S LAUGHTER AND LYING: GENESIS 18:9–18 167 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS XII. REDEFINING THE eivkh/, r`aka,, AND mwre, IN MATTHEW 5:22 182 XIII. LUKE’S MISINTERPRETATION OF THE HEBREW QUOTATION IN ACTS 26:14 205 XIV. THE ORIGIN OF JESUS ’ “MESSIANIC SECRET” 219 XV. LOST LEXEMES CLARIFY MARK 1:41 AND JOHN 3:3–4 245 XVI. LOST LEXEMES CLARIFY JOHN 11:33 AND 11:38 256 XVII. A NEW INTERPRETATION OF JESUS’ CURSING THE FIG TREE 267 XVIII A NEW INTERPRETATION OF JESUS’ PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET 287 XIX RESTORING THE ORIGINAL VERSIFICATION OF ISAIAH 8 305 XX A BETTER INTERPRETATION OF ISAIAH 9:5–6a 315 XXI THE SEPTUAGINT HAS THE CORRECT TRANSLATION OF EXODUS 21:22–23 321 iii XXII RECOVERING THE WORDPLAY IN ZECHARIAH 2:4–9 [MT 2:8–13] 337 BIBLIOGRAPHY 348 iv ABBREVIATIONS A-text Codex Alexandrinus AB Anchor Bible, New York ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature, Chicago AnBib Analecta Biblica, Rome AOS American Oriental Society, New Haven ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch, Göttingen AV Authorized Version of the Bible, 1611 (same as KJV, 1611) B-text Codex Vaticanus BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Philadelphia BCTP A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching BDB F.
    [Show full text]
  • UTS: Edward Robinson Papers, 1836-1838
    The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York Union Theological Seminary Archives 1 Finding Aid for Edward Robinson Papers, 1836-1838 Edward Robinson Faculty Photograph, UTS2: Union Theological Seminary Records, Series 18C, box 5, folder R-S, the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York Finding Aid prepared by: Rebecca Nieto, August 2016 With financial support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Summary Information Creator: Edward Robinson, 1794 – 1863 Title: Edward Robinson Papers, 1836-1838 Inclusive dates: 1836-1838 with some undated material Bulk dates: 1838 Abstract: Presbyterian minister, Biblical historian, translator, geographer, UTS professor and faculty librarian. Papers consist of divided bound manuscript materials recounting travels in Palestine and environs circa 1838; journals and itineraries; language workbooks; Heinrich Kiepert memoir and annotated galleys of Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius’ Hebrew lexicon [undated]. Materials include text in English, German, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Size: 7 boxes, 2.75 linear feet Storage: Onsite storage Repository: The Burke Library Union Theological Seminary 3041 Broadway New York, NY 10027 Email: [email protected] UTS 1: Edward Robinson Papers, 1838 2 Administrative Information Provenance: The Edward Robinson Papers are part of the Union Theological Seminary Archives, which comprises institutional and administrative records of the Seminary, combined with the papers of many organizations, scholars, pastors, laypersons, and others connected with the school. These papers were partially processed in 2014, and completed as part of a large group of unprocessed material that was organized in 2016 during an archival processing grant funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the E.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Things That Concordances Do Not Tell You
    358 The Testimony, September 2001 “walk away” is indicative of the hold which John Paul II and the Palestinian leader Yasser the Middle East has on the nations of the world. Arafat. As events continue to develop in the Mid- The article goes on to write of how the European dle East we should exhort one another as we see Union has been involved and how (in MacAskill’s the day approaching (Heb. 10:25). Let us remain opinion) there is scope for more involvement in faithful so that we might be with Christ as he the crisis. The Catholic Church is also increas- marches through Bozrah (Isa. 34:6) and moves to ingly becoming involved in the crisis. On 2 Au- Israel to carry out the “recompences for the con- gust 2001 a meeting took place between Pope troversy of Zion” (v. 8). 1234 1234 1234 EDITOR: John Nicholls, 17 Upper Trinity Road, Halstead, 1234 1234 1234 Essex, CO9 1EE. Tel. 01787 473089; 1234 1234 e-mail: [email protected] 1234 1234 Reviews 1234 1234 Some things that concordances do not tell you John Carder N ENGLISH the tense of a verb shows its That form is often referred to as the stem or root relation to time, that is, past tense, present of the verb. Itense or future tense. English is a very time- From that basic and most simple form, usu- orientated language, with distinct tenses. The ally consisting of just three Hebrew letters, all Hebrew of the Bible is completely different. It other parts of each Hebrew verb are derived.
    [Show full text]
  • How Was the Dageš in Biblical Hebrew Pronounced and Why Is It There? Geoffrey Khan
    1 pronounced and why is it בָּתִּ ים How was the dageš in Biblical Hebrew there? Geoffrey Khan houses’ is generally presented as an enigma in‘ בָּתִּ ים The dageš in the Biblical Hebrew plural form descriptions of the language. A wide variety of opinions about it have been expressed in Biblical Hebrew textbooks, reference grammars and the scholarly literature, but many of these are speculative without any direct or comparative evidence. One of the aims of this article is to examine the evidence for the way the dageš was pronounced in this word in sources that give us direct access to the Tiberian Masoretic reading tradition. A second aim is to propose a reason why the word has a dageš on the basis of comparative evidence within Biblical Hebrew reading traditions and other Semitic languages. בָּתִּיםבָּתִּ ים The Pronunciation of the Dageš in .1.0 The Tiberian vocalization signs and accents were created by the Masoretes of Tiberias in the early Islamic period to record an oral tradition of reading. There is evidence that this reading tradition had its roots in the Second Temple period, although some features of it appear to have developed at later periods. 1 The Tiberian reading was regarded in the Middle Ages as the most prestigious and authoritative tradition. On account of the authoritative status of the reading, great efforts were made by the Tiberian Masoretes to fix the tradition in a standardized form. There remained, nevertheless, some degree of variation in reading and sign notation in the Tiberian Masoretic school. By the end of the Masoretic period in the 10 th century C.E.
    [Show full text]
  • Hebrew-Greek Dictionaries the Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament Whitaker, Richard, Francis Brown, S.R
    Hebrew-Greek Dictionaries The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament Whitaker, Richard, Francis Brown, S.R. (Samuel Rolles) Driver and Charles A. (Charles Augustus) Briggs. The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament : From A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, Based on the Lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius. Oak Harbor WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament Friberg, Timothy, Barbara Friberg and Neva F. Miller. Vol. 4, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker's Greek New Testament library. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2000. Analytical Lexicon of the Syriac New Testament : Based on the SEDRA 3 Database of George Anton Kiraz Kiraz, George A. Analytical Lexicon of the Syriac New Testament : Based on the SEDRA 3 Database of George Anton Kiraz. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2003. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1996. Building Your Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary Landes, George M. Vol. 41, Building Your Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary : Learning Words by Frequency and Cognate. Resources for biblical study. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. Building Your New Testament Greek Vocabulary 3rd Edition Van Voorst, Robert E. Building Your New Testament Greek Vocabulary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990. Collins Latin Dictionary and Grammar Collins Latin Dictionary Plus Grammar. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 1997. The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary : New Testament. electronic ed. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • Lucia HOREA School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, University of East Anglia Norwich, England [email protected]
    Lucia HOREA School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, University of East Anglia Norwich, England [email protected] HEBREW LINGUISTICS: BETWEEN THE SPIRITUAL AND THE SOCIOCULTURAL Abstract: In the Hebrew language, notions such as the issue of temporality and a well- established sociocultural view have been conceptualised and internalised in a distinctive manner, making full use of the language‘s particularities. A cultural frame of reference with regards to Hebrew has not been the main focus of the linguistic community in several decades, with most recent studies typically centring instead on a psychological or morphological viewpoint, if not on the traditional topic of Biblical Hebrew itself. Consequently, this approach to Hebrew‘s linguistic individuality will address existing research in the field of cultural linguistics, as well as the expansive repositories of Rabbinic wisdom (the exegetical commentaries of the Talmud and the Jewish esoteric theosophy of the Kabbalah and Gematria). The approach to the Jewish occult is made necessary by its direct connection with the spiritual, which provided this language‘s cryogenic state of existence for nearly two millennia of Jewish diaspora. Keywords: Hebrew, cultural linguistics, Jewish sociocultural view, Kabbalah, Talmud This paper will aim to outline certain aspects of the existing research and published works on Hebrew linguistics, specifically the cultural and spiritual aspects. The current state of this research reveals a rather restricted amount of attention which is paid to this particular field of study, the sociocultural, with more focus placed on either the history and development of this language and Biblical Hebrew, or on Modern Hebrew from the perspective of psycholinguistics.
    [Show full text]
  • DR. S. P. TREGELLES B
    DR. s. P. TREGELLES B. w. NEWTON B. W. NEWTON and DR. S. P. TREGELLES LONDON: THE SOVEREIGN GRACE ADVENT TESTIMONY Sec.: GEO. H. FRO MOW, 9 Milnthorpe Road, Chiswick, W.4 B. W. NEWTON AND Dr. S. P. TREGELLES TEACHERS OF THE FAITH AND THE FUTURE The Life and works of B. W. Newton and Dr. S. P. Tregelles. Edited by GEORGE H. FROMOW Foreword by Professor F. F. BRUCE, D.D. PRINTED BY E. GOODMAN & SON, THE PHCENIX PRESS, TAUNTON CONTENTS Chapter Page B. W. Newton's Gall by Grace. 2 Newton's Life and Career. 4 3 How He Learned Prophetic Truth. 13 4 Testimonies to His Character and Work. 21 5 Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, LL.D., Life and Letters. 26 6 Evangelists in Welsh. 29 7 Tregelles Greek New Testament. 32 8 Christians Influenced by their Writings. 37 9 A Page from Church History. 41 10 A Statement of Doctrinal Belief. 44 11 Propositions for Christian Consideration. 64 12 Extracts from the Teachings of Tregelles. 77 13 Dr. Tregelles as a Hymn Writer. 81 14 The Eternal Sonship and the Suretyship of Christ. 88 15 Principles for the Reading of Scripture. 93 16 Matthew's Gospel is Characteristically Christian. 98 17 Thoughts on Romans Chapters 1 : 2 and 3. 103 18 The Church in the Epistle to the Ephesians. 105 19 Imputed Righteousness. 108 20 Christ, the Church and the Nations. 111 21 The Renewal of the Near East. 121 22 Newton's Forecasts Up-To-Date. 128 23 Revelation Chapter 13 and the Pope. 134 24 Some Revised Translations.
    [Show full text]
  • On Elkenah As Canaanite El
    BCC Papers 2/2, April 2007 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2007/04/bcc-papers-2-2-barney/ On Elkenah as Canaanite El Kevin L. Barney Much like the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham is extant only in its English translation (and other translations based on the English text). In such a situation, the transliterated words in the text's onomasticon take on added significance as representing possible fossilized remnants of the original text.1 Although the Book of Abraham contains a number of easily recognizable Hebrew words and names, many of the names in the book are more obscure and have a less obvious derivation. The first of these words to appear in the text is "Elkenah." In this article I will explore the possible derivations of this word and then articulate some of the ramifications the most likely derivations would have for our understanding of the Book of Abraham generally. Elkenah in the Book of Abraham The name "Elkenah" appears 12 times in the Book of Abraham. The first three occurrences derive from the explanations to Facsimile 1. Figure 3 is identified as "The idolatrous priest of Elkenah attempting to offer up Abraham as a sacrifice," referring to the person standing at the left of the altar. Figure 4 shows "the altar of sacrifice by the idolatrous priests, standing before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash and Pharaoh," referring to the lion couch, the four canopic jars and the crocodile of the Facsimile. Figure 5 is labeled "the idolatrous god of Elkenah," referring to the falcon- headed jar, generally understood in its Egyptian context as Qebehsenuf, one of the four Sons of Horus.
    [Show full text]
  • On Elkenah As Canaanite El
    Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 19 Number 1 Article 5 1-31-2010 On Elkenah as Canaanite El Kevin L. Barney Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Barney, Kevin L. (2010) "On Elkenah as Canaanite El," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 19 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol19/iss1/5 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Title On Elkenah as Canaanite El Author(s) Kevin L. Barney Reference Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 19/1 (2010): 22–35. ISSN 1948-7487 (print), 2167-7565 (online) Abstract Many easily recognizable Hebrew words and names can be found in the Book of Abraham. One name that hasn’t had a concrete meaning attached to it, however, is Elkenah. In this article, Barney addresses whether Elkenah is a person, place, or name; what its possible linguistic structures are; and what it might mean. Most importantly, Barney links Elkenah with the Canaanite god El and the attending cult—a cult that practiced human sacrifice. This has significant ramifi- cations for the Book of Abraham, which has been criti- cized for its inclusion of human sacrifice. Assuming a northern location for the city Ur and taking Elkenah as the Canaanite El resolve the issue of child sacrifice in the Book of Abraham.
    [Show full text]
  • Genealogy, Circumcision and Conversion in Early Judaism and Christianity
    Genealogy, Circumcision and Conversion in Early Judaism and Christianity by Matthew Thiessen Department of Religion Duke University Date: _____________________ Approved: ___________________________ Joel Marcus, Supervisor __________________________ Christine E. Hayes __________________________ Richard B. Hays __________________________ Eric M. Meyers __________________________ C. Kavin Rowe Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 ABSTRACT Genealogy, Circumcision and Conversion in Early Judaism and Christianity by Matthew Thiessen Department of Religion Duke University Date:_____________________ Approved: ___________________________ Joel Marcus, Supervisor __________________________ Christine E. Hayes ________________________ Richard B. Hays __________________________ Eric M. Meyers __________________________ C. Kavin Rowe An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 Copyright by Matthew Thiessen 2010 Abstract In his important work, The Beginnings of Jewishness, Shaye J. D. Cohen has argued that what it meant to be a Jew underwent considerable revision during the second century B.C.E. While previously a Jew was defined in terms of ethnicity (by which Cohen means biological descent), in the wake of Judaism’s sustained encounter with Hellenism, the term Jew came to be defined as an ethno-religion—that is, one could choose to become a Jew. Nonetheless, the recent work of scholars, such as Christine E. Hayes, has demonstrated that there continued to exist in early Judaism a strain of thinking that, in theory at least, excluded the possibility that Gentiles could become Jews.
    [Show full text]
  • Rabbinic Discourse on Divination in the Babylonian Talmud By
    Rabbinic Discourse on Divination in the Babylonian Talmud by Stephanie L. Bolz A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Near Eastern Studies) in The University of Michigan 2012 Doctoral Committee: Professor Gabriele Boccaccini, Co-Chair Professor Richard Kalmin, Co-Chair, The Jewish Theological Seminary Associate Professor Brian B. Schmidt Assistant Professor Rachel Neis © Stephanie L. Bolz 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the process of writing this dissertation I have benefitted greatly from my dissertation co-chair, Richard Kalmin of the Jewish Theological Seminary. My sincere thanks go do him for all the criticism and positive feedback he provided along with way. His knowledge, brilliant insights and timely feedback have been invaluable. My thanks go to my other co-chair, Gabriele Boccacini. Since the beginning of my PhD studies he has provided a stimulating intellectual environment both in the seminars he has offered and the undergraduate courses for which I had the opportunity to be his Graduate Student Instructor. My thanks also go to my other committee members, Rachel Neis and Brian Schmidt. I am thankful for the time they gave to reading my work and the feedback they provided. All of the members of my dissertation committee have offered solid contributions and guidance for both this dissertation and my future work and for this I am deeply grateful. Many organizations at the University of Michigan have been a source of financial and administrative assistance. The Department of Near Eastern Studies has provided me with numerous teaching posts and administrative support. I would also like to thank the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, the Horace H.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mystery of Rosh by Ray Gano
    The Mystery of Rosh By Ray Gano Is Russia ever literally mentioned in the bible? This is a question I have been asking for a while now. But all we seem to be getting is the same convoluted information. Everyone points to Ezekiel 38-39 and says "see right there.. Russia." Well to be honest I see Meshech ,Tubal, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, Togarmah. These are all real places, in fact Meshech ,Tubal, Gomer, Togarmah are all found in Turkey. Persia is modern day Iran. Ethiopia is still the same as well as Libya. But Russia is not named literally. So why literally name all the other countries involved and then allegorically name Russia? When you ask the scholars you get something like this… Ras = Rosh which = Russia because the “T” in Tiras really needs to be dropped off to form Ras so that they can become part of the Table of Nations found in Genesis 10; THEN migrate all the way from the Balkans then to the North of the Black Sea and then to the Caucasus Mountains. WHICH.. after moving there, they then move to form Russia, Moscow and Tobol'sk which is north of the Balkans area. Whew! As we know, many people state that they believe this idea, but to date I still can’t find Russia in the scriptures and they can’t clearly show me it either. I believe that this all falls under “assumed knowledge.” Assumed? 1 I believe that the idea of Russia being told for over 150+ years has now become doctrine.
    [Show full text]