Shalom All:

Scientists try to date the Priestly Benediction
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1865%257E2431928,00.html#

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A part of the sacred Torah of Judaism (the first five books of the Bible),
Numbers includes a narrative of the Israelite wanderings from Mount Sinai to
the east side of the Jordan River. Some scholars think the Torah was compiled
in the time of the exile. A number of other scholars, the so-called
minimalists, who are influential mainly in Europe, argue that the Bible was a
relatively recent invention by those who took control of Judea in the late
fourth century B.C. In this view, the early books of the Bible were largely
fictional to give the new rulers a place in the country's history and thus a
claim to the land.

"The new research on the inscriptions suggests that that's not true," Pitard
said. In fact, the research team noted in its journal report that the
improved images showed the seventh-century lines of the benediction to be
"actually closer to the biblical parallels than previously recognized."

Dr. P. Kyle McCarter of Johns Hopkins University, a specialist in ancient
Semitic scripts, said the research should "settle any controversy over these
inscriptions."

A close study, McCarter said, showed that the handwriting is an early style of
Hebrew script and the letters are from an old Hebrew alphabet, which had all
but ceased to be used after the destruction of Jerusalem. Later Hebrew
writing usually adopted the Aramaic alphabet.

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Showing again be careful the "scholars" you choose as teachers!

Dianne
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