RT Article
T1 A Thousand Times, No: ʾlf does not Mean 'Contingent' in the Deuteronomistic History
JF Biblica
VO 99
IS 4
SP 484
OP 506
A1 Flanders, Denise C.
LA English
PB Peeters
YR 2018
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1588358402
AB One solution regularly offered to the problem of historically implausible numbers in Joshua - 2 Kings is that the term ʾlf, normally translated 'thousand', actually refers to a 'contingent of armed men'. This article argues that 'contingent' is not a plausible translation for ʾlf in the Deuteronomistic History. The argument focuses on grammatical evidence, as there are several unique ways that the term ʾlf behaves grammatically like a numeral when it is used in conjunction with other numerals, and comparative evidence, as other ANE battle narratives do not enumerate numbers of contingents when reporting numbers of troops and casualties.
DO 10.2143/BIB.99.4.3285660