[arachne] Re: The Bible says ...

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"Reading" ancient Hebrew isn't really "reading."

Samuel W. Heywood wrote:
<snip>
The Apostle Paul, aka. Saul of Tarsus, was a very educated man. He most
certainly did know how to read and write. As a young man he received
many years of formal education and training in Jerusalem. It is known
that he was a pupil of the eminent rabbi Gamaliel. Paul became a rabbi and
a lawyer. I highly doubt that even in those days that it could be possible
for an illiterate person to be either.

Ancient Hebrew totally lacks any verbs in the written form. Many words are 'clued' exactly the same in written form, while being totally different in actuality. Think of trying to figure out if "ft" means fat, fit, fight, foot, etc. simply by seeing the two consonants ... pretty tough. As a rabbi (teacher) and speaker for the law, much had to be memorized (oral tradition, once again). The letters on the page were/are not the words to be memorized but rather the CLUES as to which word belongs there ... a "cheat sheet" for the spoken word. That is why, even today, when you visit a Hebrew School, you will hear "chanting" and spoken text rather than finding rooms of studiously quiet pupils. (Most people agree that it can be easier to memorize a poem or a song, with rhythm and/or tune to help in the process, than to remember plain text ... hearing the words aloud is a tremendous help to remembering them.)

And Biblical scholars will point out that the attempts at translation from the Hebrew by those who had never seen, let alone memorized the book/scroll, resulted in many mistranslations carried over to the later Christian tomes. When historical accuracy was lost in that manner, and more than 90% of what wasn't lost by that method was destroyed by those in power wanting to have "Biblical Backup" to their own personal agendas, having anything cohesive and precise is impossible.

Going back to Latin, and then Greek, references remains an exercise in futility for serious scholars of religion. There are contradictions within the accepted lore, and missing links "big enough to drive a Mack truck through." (Those two facts are quite often the *only* thing which biblical scholars do agree upon. :> )

l.d.

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