[B-Greek] Aramaic and Hebrew by Rabshakeh, II Kings 18
Bryant J. Williams III
bjwvmw at com-pair.net
Mon Apr 2 15:49:55 EDT 2007
Dear Al,
Note the change in the subject line!
The language used by Rabshakeh is found in two passages, II Kings 18:17-37&
Isaiah 36. The II Kings passage has the representatives of Hezekiah ask
Rabshakeh, "Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian (Aramaic-
aramith) language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jew's
(yehudith) language in the ears of the people that are on the wall." "Then
Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jew's language, and
spake, saying,..." (II Kings 18:26, 28). The parallel passage in Isaiah
36:11, 13 is word for word.
Now, in both passages, Rabshakeh had spoken in Hebrew both before and after
the representatives of Hezekiah asked him to speak in Aramaic. Unless I am
missing something, Rabshakeh spoke Hebrew before the people on the wall.
BTW, the NIV translates the two words as Aramaic and Hebrew, respectively.
LXX (Old Greek?), has ZOURISTI...'IOUDAISTI, respectively. (The source is
*The NIV Triglot Old Testament* which uses the Hebrew text by van der Hooght
(1705) as edited by Hahn (1831) and it has the MT; LXX, rather the Greek OT,
uses the 4th Edition of Tischedorf (1869) following the Sixtine tradition
with the basic text of Codex Vaticanus (B)).
Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
----- Original Message -----
From: "Albert Pietersma" <albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca>
To: "Ken Penner" <ken.penner at acadiau.ca>
Cc: "B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>; "Randall Buth"
<randallbuth at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] PASXA and SIKERA --transliteration from Hebrew
On Apr 2, 2007, at 2:00 PM, Ken Penner wrote:
> Dear Al,
> You wrote:
>> " Yes, I am aware of what Randy is saying but unless I see a lot
>> better evidence than what is being cited I am not convinced, and that
>> includes the use of HEBRAISTI +. You are not suggesting, are you,
>> that HEBRAISTI refers to the Hebrew language as opposed to the
>> Aramaic language? "Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting. This
>> is the conclusion of my 2004 SBL paper “Greek Names for Hebrew and
>> Aramaic: A Case for Lexical Revision,” Society of Biblical Literature
>> Annual Meeting, Greek Language and Linguistics Section, November
>> 2004, the handout of which is attached. Yes, I think Rabshakeh
>> addressed the Jerusalemites in Hebrew. What do you think?
It would take a lot of solid evidence to convince me of that.
Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes.
Al
>
> Ken
>
>
> Ken M. Penner, Ph.D. (McMaster)
> Dead Sea Scrolls scholars' list owner,
> http://mailman.mcmaster.ca/mailman/listinfo/g-megillot
>
>
>
> To me it means nothing more than the language the Jews commonly used,
> Aramaic. Hebrew was even WRITTEN in Aramaic square script. Did
> Rabshakeh address the Jerusalemites in Hebrew? The LXX in Isaiah and
> Kings calls it Judean.
>> Perhaps most importantly, unlike Josephus, the translators of the LXX
>> should little concern for Greek pronunciation of Semitic terms. But
>> as I said, the role of Hebrew as opposed to Aramaic in the second
>> temple period is not a topic for this list.
>> Al
>>> We should add to Pascha and Sabbata (Josephus, Antiquities 1.33) the
>>> word Asarta (Josephus, Antiquities 3.252), and also Bethzatha or
>>> Bethesda or Bethsaida in John 5:2, Gabbatha in John 19:13, Golgotha
>>> in John 19:17. All of these words are said to be "Hebrew"
>>> (Hebrais/Hebraisti/in language of the Hebrews).
>>>
>>> The following words called Hebrew look Aramaic:
>>> 1. John’s Βηθζαθα/Βηθεσδα (Ἑβραΐστι in John 5:2)
>>> 2. John’s Γαββαθα (Ἑβραΐστι in John 19:13)
>>> 3. John’s Γολγοθ(α) (Ἑβραΐστι in John 19:17)
>>> 4. Josephus’ σάββατα (κατὰ τὴν ῾Εβραίων διάλεκτον in A.J. 1.33)
>>> 5. Josephus’ ἀσαρθὰ (ἣν Ἑβραῖοι καλοῦσι in A.J. 3.252)
>>> 6. Philo’s Πάσχα (῾Εβραῖοι πατρίῳ γλώττῃ καλοῦσι) in Decal. 159 and
>>> Spec. Leg. 2.145
>>>
>>> The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible has Aramaic-looking
>>> transliterations (σικερα, Πασχα, σάββατα) because alpha endings are
>>> used to help Greek pronunciation (BDF §141(3)) (cf. άλφα, βητα,
>>> δελτα, from אלף, בית, דלת, etc.) Alpha was a natural sound to add,
>>> to keep the word from ending with a consonant. According to Smyth,
>>> something similar happened in the transformation of the accusative
>>> singular ending nu into alpha in the third declension.
>>>
>>> What evidence will help us decide whether the A is from Aramaic or
>>> added to help Greek pronunciation?
>>>
>>> Ken
>>>
>>> Ken M. Penner, Ph.D.
>>> Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies,
>>> Acadia Divinity College,
>>> Wolfville, Nova Scotia,
>>> Canada B4P 2R6.
>>> (902)585-2213
>>> http://purl.org/net/kmpenner/
>>>
>>>> PASCA, however,
>>>> happens to be Aramaic, not Hebrew (as determinative final A
>>>> indicates). The phenomenon as such —— and SIKERA belongs
>>>> here too—— testifies to the extensive influence of the lingua
>>>> franca of the Persian period (Aramaic) among Jews as well as others.
>>>> The same influence is underscored by the fact that the Greek
>>>> translators of the LXX often 'Aramaized' their Hebrew source, i.e.
>>>> ascribing Aramaic meanings to Hebrew words and morphemes.
>>>> Al
>>>>
>> —
>> Albert Pietersma
>> 21 Cross Street,
>> Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
>> Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
>> Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm
>>
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—
Albert Pietersma
21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm
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