Posted on 07/22/2020 3:57:07 AM PDT by Its All Over Except ...
I never paid any attention to it before, but when looking in the reference section of an old Bible, I noticed a picture of Moses holding the 10 Commandments and on them was Masoretic Text which was not in existence in Moses' time.
Moses smashed the first set that God etched in Exodus 31:8 and chiseled out the second set.
The language during Moses' time would not have been Masoretic Text with its diacritic markings, nor its predecessor, Aramaic Hebrew, nor its predecessor, Paleo Hebrew. Paleo Hebrew though would have been in use during the time of the Davidic Kingdom and a few centuries before that owing to the Gezer Calendar, Silver Scroll, and other artifacts from the time period of the 10th to the 8th centuries BC that have been discovered having Paleo Hebrew inscribed upon them and hearkening back to a time just before them.
The Samaritan Pentateuchs origins stretch back to Paleo Hebrew, with the Dead Sea Scrolls containing scriptures written in it.
Moses was versed in all the knowledge of the Egyptians according to the Old Testament/Tanakh, and thus given he would not have etched MT to create the second set of 10 commandments, nor used Aramaic Hebrew, which was used by the Jews in Ezra's time before MT was used after Aramaic Hebrew, nor used Paleo/Proto Hebrew which was in use before Aramaic Hebrew, the only possibility would seem to be Proto-Sinaitic used by Moses to etch the second set.
As a side note, at that time hieroglyphics and Sumerian cuneiform were both very ancient. Writing goes back many thousands of years. Moses, as he was educated in the Pharaoh’s household, probably knew several languages and several writing systems.
MS-DOS.................Moses Sinai Divine Operating System...........
But was he educated in Masoretic Text, Aramaic Hebrew or Paleo Hebrew?
You mean Moses didn’t use King James English?
Your original point was that the Commandments had to be written by whatever language Moses would have chosen to use. My point was that that was not the case - they were written by God and he was not limited by Moses. They may have been carved in emojis for all we know. Why did God go to the trouble of writing the first set if he knew darn well that Moses was just going to break them?
Why would he create a certain Cherub or angel if He knew He would rebel against Him? Good luck answering both that and your question.
Secondly, since we don’t know what language specifically the Ten Commandmebts were written in, and I gave options in the title, you do at least understand that God would know what languages Moses knew so it stands to reason He would etch the 10 commandments with a language that Moses would know and be able to continue using for the Torah.
So based upon that it is either God etched in an unknown language or more likely would use a language Moses knew when he wrote the Torah (that God also gave Him) and that Moses would understand the moment Moses looked at the tablets..
So since Paleo Hebrew stretches back to Proto Sinaitic and there would be Egyptian Hieroglyphics before that, I imagine it’s one of the two or something in between.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXeTsWGPT0w
I assume he used the same alphabet for those ten as he used for the other five. [Mel Brooks]
Given that they had just left Egypt, they probably used the same hieroglyphics that were engraved on the structures they helped to build.
Because He wanted the people to be able to read and obey the text as it was written, at the time it was written. So, it would have to be in a language that was known to the Hebrews at the time the commandments were received.
By your argument, the commandments would not go into effect until Hebrew had been developed and some general literacy had been achieved, many centuries in the future. Even Moses would have been unable to read the commandments.
Hey, at least you hate me because my mind is beautiful. :^)
“Mosaic!”
But not the boringly Dreaded TIMES-NEW ROMAN!!!!
Anything but that!
I don’t know why people are getting worked up. They just need to give Brian Williams a call. I’m sure he was there and saw the originals. Heck! He probably has a few treasured fragment he’ll sell cheap.
Following up what CurlyDave said to you, why would the Israelites be using a language like Proto Hebrew if God didnt use Proto Hebrew to etch the ten commandments?
Why would they be using Proto Sinaitic before that if God didnt use that for the Ten Commandments?
Why would God use a language to etch the Ten Commandments Moses didnt understand?
Nothing points to MT, Aramaic Hebrew, or even Paleo Hebrew being used for the Ten Commandments. But it points to God using the language people then could understand just like we have English translation Bibles and the Greek LXX being the dominant means of facilitating the scriptures long before that.
You presume - incorrectly - that the image you describe is 100% accurate, to include the text on the stones.
The correct analysis would be why Moses would carve a replacement set of stones in a language nobody else could decipher and the true geographical origins of the Exodus.
In the end, what a mess those who think, as the picture in my old study Bible shows, create when they create pictures of Moses holding the Ten Commandments with Masoretic Text for the Ten, when God would have etched them with a language the people, like Moses, would understand, which leaves out then at that time Masoretic Text, Aramaic Hebrew, and Paleo Hebrew.
But God then as now uses what is beneficial and expedient to transmit His word in a format people can understans, thus why we have Bibles now in a host of languages and why at one time it went from before Paleo Sianatic to Proto Sinaitic to Paleo H, to Aramaic Hebrew, to the LXX as they were the best, most known, and widely distributed languages at the time people who read God’s word were reading the scriptures in for their time period.
The words aseret hadivarim in Exodus 34:28 do not mean ten commandments. They mean ten words. The ten words are: ki1 al2-pi3 hadivarim4 ha'eleh5 karati6 itcha7 b'rit8 v'et9-yisrael10. In English these words are translated as: for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. This is what G-d commanded Moses to write on the tablets. It's clear as day. Go back and look for yourself.
ML/NJ
No proof he would do that or actually did that - and why would he?
Read post #54.
Yes, and I’m glad I was corrected earlier about who chiseled the second set. It actually helped.
I would guess hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing; Egyptian, Babylonian, and possibly Sumerian (an ancient language for them)
Go to the warehouse, open the ark and find out...
Why would the Israelites be using a language like Proto Hebrew if God didnt use Proto Hebrew to etch the ten commandments?
Why would they be using Proto Sinaitic before that if God didnt use that for the Ten Commandments?
Why would God use a language to etch the Ten Commandments Moses didnt understand?
Nothing points to MT, Aramaic Hebrew, or even Paleo Hebrew being used for the Ten Commandments. But it points to God using the language people then could understand just like we have English translation Bibles and the Greek LXX being the dominant means of facilitating the scriptures long before that.
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