Moses’s Slow Speech: Hybrid Identity, Language Acquisition, and the Meaning of Exodus 4:10

In changing our focus to examine the children and the childhoods of the characters in the Bible we can gain new insights into the biblical text. This essay applies childist interpretation to a question that has long puzzled scholars: What did Moses mean when he said: “I am heavy (כבד) of speech and...

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主要作者: Garroway, Kristine Henriksen (Author)
格式: 電子 Article
語言:English
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
出版: 2020
In: Biblical interpretation
Year: 2020, 卷: 28, 發布: 5, Pages: 635-657
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bibel. Exodus 4,10 / Mose, 聖經人物 / 兒童 / 語言 / 希伯來語 / 埃及語
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B childist interpretation
B Language
B Hebrew
B Egyptian
B Childhood
B Moses
在線閱讀: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
實物特徵
總結:In changing our focus to examine the children and the childhoods of the characters in the Bible we can gain new insights into the biblical text. This essay applies childist interpretation to a question that has long puzzled scholars: What did Moses mean when he said: “I am heavy (כבד) of speech and heavy (כבד) of tongue” (Exod 4:10). Scholars have suggested it meant Moses had a speech impediment or that he lost his ability to speak Egyptian eloquently during his years in Midian. I suggest, however, that these previous answers have overlooked a crucial stage in Moses’ development: his childhood. Moses’ unique childhood and transition from Hebrew slave child to adopted Egyptian prince creates within him a hybrid identity. His hybrid identity, in turn, manifested itself in Hebrew language attrition, which causes him to protest that he is “heavy of speech and tongue.”
ISSN:1568-5152
Contains:Enthalten in: Biblical interpretation
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685152-2805A006