“Midianite Men, Merchants” (Gen 37:28): Linguistic, Literary, and Historical Perspectives
An important method of resolving contradictions in the Bible was developed by Saadia Gaon and Menasseh ben Israel based on the writings of Aristotle. It is rooted in the insight that failure to recognize linguistic ambiguity is a common source of apparent contradiction—in the Bible as elsewhere. In...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
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| In: |
Vetus Testamentum
Year: 2023, Volume: 73, Issue: 1, Pages: 82-131 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Aristoteles 384 BC-322 BC
/ Seʿadyah, Gaʾon 882-942
/ Caravan
/ Merchant
/ Bible. Genesis 37,28
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HD Early Judaism HH Archaeology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | An important method of resolving contradictions in the Bible was developed by Saadia Gaon and Menasseh ben Israel based on the writings of Aristotle. It is rooted in the insight that failure to recognize linguistic ambiguity is a common source of apparent contradiction—in the Bible as elsewhere. In the case of the apparent Ishmaelite/Midianite contradiction, the crucial ambiguity—overlooked by critics of all persuasions—is syntactic. There is a second syntactic reading of וַיַּעַבְרוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִדְיָנִים סֹחֲרִים that eliminates the contradiction and solves other problems, leaving only a lack of uniformity. For the latter, there are three literary explanations, which complement each other. They involve (1) stylistic variation, (2) subjective perspective (based on the historical context), and (3) keywords and foreshadowing. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5330 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Vetus Testamentum
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685330-bja10082 |