[B-Greek] Aramaic and Hebrew by Rabshakeh, II Kings 18

Albert Pietersma albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Mon Apr 2 15:58:32 EDT 2007


Bryant,
You are right on the Rabshakeh episode. I should have checked rather  
than go memory.
Al

On Apr 2, 2007, at 3:49 PM, Bryant J. Williams III wrote:

> 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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—
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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