Posted on 01/10/2010 10:16:56 AM PST by NYer
Did the writing of the Bible begin as far back as the 10th century B.C.E., during the time of King David? That is four centuries earlier than Biblical scholars currently believe - but an inscription recently deciphered by a scholar at Haifa University indicates that for at least some books of the Bible, the answer may be yes.
The inscription, written in ink on clay, is the earliest yet found in Hebrew. It was discovered about 18 months ago in a dig at Khirbet Qeiyafa, near Emek Ha'ela. While it was quickly dated, its language remained uncertain until Prof. Gershon Galil was able to demonstrate that it was an early form of Hebrew - containing roots commonly found in Hebrew, but which are very rare in other Semitic languages.
The content, Galil said, "which relates to slaves, widows and orphans," is typical of the Biblical text, but reflects ideas virtually unheard of in the surrounding cultures.
Galil said this discovery disproves the current theory, which holds that the Bible could not have been written before the 6th century B.C.E., because Hebrew writing did not exist until then.
Moreover, he added, the inscription was found in what was then a minor, outlying community - so if scribes existed even there, Hebrew writing was probably sufficiently well developed to handle a complex text like the Bible.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
English translation of the deciphered text:
1' you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
2' Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
3' [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
4' the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
5' Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.
I’m not a scholar, however, any communication that replaces the traditional B.C. (before Christ) with B.C.E. (before current era) is suspiciously P.C(politically correct) to me.
Any time I see the letters BCE, I know it is coming from a Christian hating bigot. No other possible reason to use that term.
Not necessarily Christian-hating, it’s just what’s fashionable now in academia. People will take up the fashion without thinking, or because they are afraid of being censured.
Before the Current Era, makes no sense, because the current era is ‘anno domine’.
But then, academics are slaves to fashion...
At any rate the text is very interesting. I wonder what book of the Old Testament it is part of?
It’s very moving that the concern here is with the poor.
What's the problem? BCE just stands for "Before Christian Era." Or at least, so I tell anyone who is adamant about using BCE instead of BC!
There is one thing sure, if a man claims to be the Son of God, he is either a nut (and not just a prophet/philospher), or he is telling the truth. I choose to believe the latter so this origin/time nonsense is of no import to me.
Call me a bigot, eh? Look to the mirror!
What exact day and year was Jesus born, and what is your source for that?
Actually, I believe BCE stands for "before common era".
Bulls-eye!
Ping!
No, it stands for Before Christian Era, as I tell anyone who is adamant about the issue....
(Hint - It's a joke)
bce- before Christian era
Yes, I most certainly do call you a bigot. Actually that is a bit mild for what I really think of you.
There is no other possible reason for someone using that phrase. It is totally illogical to use BCE for any other reason other than a jab at Christ.
The reference to Hebrew is interesting, but there seems to be something overlooked here.
The King James or New International versions of the Bible were translated from prior languages. That doesn’t devalue the significance of the text.
Why couldn’t early Biblical texts have been written in a language that preceded Hebrew? Why is it important to refer to this as an early version of Hebrew?
It may have simply been an earlier language than Hebrew.
The article is from an Israeli paper -- Jews were using CE and BCE long before political correctness was ever heard of.
Academics have been using BCE instead of BC since at least the 1960s. “Before the Common Era” is intended a) to provide a name for that era that is acceptable to all users of the Gregorian calendar, who include adherents of most religions of the world, and b) to reflect the fact that it is a near certainty that Christ was NOT born in either the year 1 AD or the year 1 BC.
The dating of this inscription puts it at less than 300 years after Moses’ death, if you accept the Biblical chronology. I’m not sure why they have so much difficulty considering that the original was written in Moses’ time, as it says it was.
Awesome God, He has been alongside His creation faithfully all along!
True.
The same way that CAF stands for "Commemorative Air Force".
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