Sorry, Jim, I just don’t see what you're getting at. I've already agreed that the multiple repetition of "watomer Tamar" may have been done on purpose, for dramatic effect. I think that we both agree on the importance of the whole story in the larger narrative. But what's your point? That Judah's daughter-in-law was NOT named Tamar? I know of at least two more women with that name in the Bible. So what?
Yigal Levin From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 2:30 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] TMR T)MR Dear Prof. Yigal Levin: You wrote: “I don't think that there is any reason to doubt that the name Tamar means ‘date palm’. Why this particular woman was given this name is irrelevant. And ‘watomer’ is the regular way to say ‘(she) said’. It is possible that the writer of this particular text juxtaposed the two words so many times for dramatic effect, but I doubt that this could be proven.” In the e-n-t-i-r-e Bible, there is only one instance in which the KJV translation reports “she said” in three consecutive verses: Genesis 38: 16-18. In all three verses, “she said” in context effectively means “Tamar said”. It’s spelled T-)MR, and as such looks suspiciously like the name TMR. At Genesis 38: 16, T-)MR means TMR T-)MR, that is, Tamar [impersonating a prostitute] said/she said: What will you give me? At Genesis 38: 17, T-)MR means TMR T-)MR, that is, Tamar [impersonating a prostitute] said/she said: Will you give me a pledge? At Genesis 38: 18, T-)MR again means TMR T-)MR, that is, Tamar [impersonating a prostitute] said/she said: The pledge is to be your signets, bracelet and staff. Three times in a row, T-)MR, referring to TMR. Then just when Tamar is about to be burned alive, at Genesis 38: 25, once again: T-)MR means TMR T-)MR, that is, Tamar [impersonating a prostitute] said/she said: The pledge I have are your signets, bracelet and staff. A fourth time, T-)MR, referring to TMR. T-)MR translated as “she said” occurs in three consecutive verses in only one place in the entire Bible, and in that once instance, in context it means TMR T-)MR: Tamar said. Yet you assert: “It is possible that the writer of this particular text juxtaposed the two words so many times for dramatic effect, but I doubt that this could be proven.” As the proof that TMR is a shortened version of T-)MR, with the name TMR meaning “she said”/T-)MR, please consider the following: (1) All four critical moments in the text that determine whether or not Tamar/TMR will be burned alive feature the phrase T-)MR: “she said”, in context meaning TMR T-)MR: “Tamar said”. (2) In the entire Bible, the o-n-l-y time when T-)MR appears in three consecutive verses is Genesis 38: 16-18, and in those three verses T-)MR in context means TMR T-)MR: “Tamar said”. The Hebrew author wants his audience to realize that TMR as a name is intentionally a shortened form of T-)MR, so that the name TMR means “she said”. The phrase T-)MR appears in the text all four times when everything is on the line as to whether TMR will or will not be burned alive. T-)MR three consecutive times to get that critical pledge, and then T-)MR a fourth time referencing that pledge to avoid getting burned alive. TMR T-)MR, in three consecutive verses, uniquely in the entire Bible. Otherwise Tamar would have been burned alive, there would have been no “younger” twin son Perez [Judah’s twin son/grandson, who is borne before his “older” twin brother Zerah], and no line of descendants of Judah leading to King David. The entire Bible falls apart at the seams absent TMR T-)MR three times in quick succession. Because absent that thrice-said T-)MR, there’s no TMR! In chapter 38 of Genesis, the name TMR has been deliberately and brilliantly designed by the Hebrew author to recall T-)MR. TMR : T-)MR. Jim Stinehart Evanston, Illinois _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
