Rev. Bryant J. Williams III:
You wrote: “[E]yewitnesses would have kept the stories essentially the
same even within the community that was now the protector of the original
stories. These eyewitnesses would have been the control over the retelling of
the stories to prevent inaccurate transmission of the stories; and yet,
allow for some variation in wording as long as this variation did not change
the story. Extrapolating from that, it would seem that the stories passed
down from the Patriarchs would be extremely accurate.”
Eyewitnesses might work for several generations, and maybe even for a
couple of centuries. But if the Patriarchal narratives were not reduced to
writing until late Iron Age Judah [based on the style of Hebrew non-poetical
common words in the classic Biblical Hebrew narrative prose of the received
text], that would be 700 years or so after the fact [even given my late
dating of the Patriarchal Age to the mid-14th century BCE].
If the received text has pinpoint historical accuracy, as I claim it does,
regarding telling us precisely what happened regarding the birth of
Judaism in south-central Canaan in Years 12-14, then such accuracy could only
rest upon a (i) w-r-i-t-t-e-n record that was done [or commissioned] by (ii)
a contemporary, who himself was one of the first Hebrews who lived in
tents in south-central Canaan in Years 12-14. For example, the first Hebrews
may have commissioned IR-Heba’s former scribe to record in writing, using
cuneiform to write down west Semitic words, a comprehensive outline of the
Patriarchal narratives. That ancient cuneiform writing was not transformed
into alphabetical classic Hebrew narrative prose writing until the 7th
century BCE or so, in late Iron Age Jerusalem. But subject to only a handful
of exceptions, those Jewish scribes in 7th century BCE Jerusalem faithfully,
passively and accurately reproduced precisely the west Semitic words that
had been written down in cuneiform in the mid-14th century BCE, albeit
naturally using the “modern” grammar and spelling conventions of late Iron Age
Judah classic Biblical Hebrew. T-h-a-t explains why every historical
detail in the received text is precisely right as to the trials and
tribulations of the tent-dwelling first Hebrews in Years 12-14, way back in
the Late
Bronze Age Patriarchal Age.
Eyewitnesses can only last a couple of generations. For great historical
accuracy over a period of time spanning many centuries, an original
w-r-i-t-t-e-n account by a contemporary is required. What I’m saying is that
that original written account of the Patriarchal narratives was done in
cuneiform, recording west Semitic/pre-Hebrew words, in the Amarna Age by [or
commissioned by] one of the tent-dwelling first Hebrews. That’s the “missing
link”.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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