Jesus-era home in Nazareth and 10th cent. BCE Hebrew writing

by glenster 10 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  glenster

  I don't know if these have been posted by anyone else before:
  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107183037.htm
  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2009/12/first-home-from-jesus-time-found-in-nazareth/1
• 

  BurnTheShips

  FASCINATING! Thanks for this! From your first link:

  Prof. Galil also notes that the inscription was discovered in a provincial town in Judea. He explains that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be assumed that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more proficient writers. "It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel." He adds that the complexity of the text discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, along with the impressive fortifications revealed at the site, refute the claims denying the existence of the Kingdom of Israel at that time.

  This inscription is similar in its content to biblical scriptures (Isaiah 1:17, Psalms 72:3, Exodus 23:3, and others), but it is clear that it is not copied from any biblical text.

  English translaton 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.
• 

  glenster

  ^ Thanks! More on Nazareth:

  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jtdzeesvOZB8jOp_RNPXmUKONtawD9CNR2SG0
• 

  BurnTheShips

  ^ Thanks! More on Nazareth:

  That fairly explodes certain arguments.

  http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/nazareth.html

  BTS
• 

  snowbird

  The silence from some of the more vociferous believers-bashers on here is very telling.

  I think it's time for one of my favorite scriptures.

  Acts 13:41 Watch out, cynics;
  Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces.
  I'm doing something right before your eyes
  That you won't believe, though it's staring you in the face." MSG

  No monosodium glutamate in there, Gregor.

  Tee hee hee.

  Sylvia
• 

  BurnTheShips

  Snowbird on the WEEKEND!

  This is an delightful omen!!!
• 

  snowbird

  Hi, Burn!

  I'm in our little town library; I just had to reconnect re the "this generation" thingy.

  I shouldn't let it, but the deviousness of the WT just galls me!

  Sylvia
• 

  Earnest

  In June 1987 I visited Nazareth and stayed at a convent belonging to a Roman Catholic order - the Religious of Nazareth - founded by a French Jesuit in the eighteenth century.

  There were some excavations that had been carried out beneath the convent which included the remains of a first-century house as well as churches which had been built on top of it from the Byzantine and Crusader periods. There was also a tomb which the nuns believed was the tomb of Joseph.

  It seems to me that this is the same convent referred to in your report.
• 

  BurnTheShips

  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.

  Why so long to uncover this message?

  BTS
• 

  Earnest

  Why so long to uncover this message?

  The inscription itself, which was written in ink on a 15 cm X 16.5 cm trapezoid pottery shard, was discovered a year and a half ago at excavations that were carried out by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Elah valley. The inscription was dated back to the 10th century BCE, which was the period of King David's reign, but the question of the language used in this inscription remained unanswered, making it impossible to prove whether it was in fact Hebrew or another local language.

  Prof. Galil's deciphering of the ancient writing testifies to its being Hebrew, based on the use of verbs particular to the Hebrew language, and content specific to Hebrew culture and not adopted by any other cultures in the region. "This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans. It uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as asah ("did") and avad ("worked"), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words that appear in the text, such as almanah ("widow") are specific to Hebrew and are written differently in other local languages. The content itself was also unfamiliar to all the cultures in the region besides the Hebrew society: The present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the biblical prophecies and very different from prophecies written by other cultures postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs," Prof. Galil explains.