Blood Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 I'm reading Gmirkin's book now. It's intriguing to say the least that the Pentateuch Redactor's actual "sources" were not JEDP but Berossus, Manetho, Herodotus ... and where would they get access to all these texts? The Library of Alexandria. The strength of this theory is that the source texts actually exist, at least in fragments; whereas JDEP don't exist and therefore the entire argument is circular. This also suggests that the Biblical author(s) were multi-lingual, and were able to move easily between Greek and Hebrew. The translation into Greek may have been done by the same people who wrote the Hebrew. The LXX therefore could be separated from the Hebrew vorlage by years rather than centuries. I don't agree with Gmirkin that this had to take place around 270 BCE. He's basing that solely, as far as I can tell, on The Letter of Aristeas, which is a late, ahistorical and legendary text itself. That is a weakness that a lot of people have. In order to support their theory about the legendary, ahistorical nature of a Biblical text, they contrast it with another legendary, ahistorical text. Doherty and Carrier do this with the NT, mainstream scholars do this The Gospel of Thomas, etc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miekko Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I'm reading Gmirkin's book now. It's intriguing to say the least that the Pentateuch Redactor's actual "sources" were not JEDP but Berossus, Manetho, Herodotus ... and where would they get access to all these texts? The Library of Alexandria. Why do people imagine The Library Of Alexandria was the only place where books existed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I'm reading Gmirkin's book now. It's intriguing to say the least that the Pentateuch Redactor's actual "sources" were not JEDP but Berossus, Manetho, Herodotus ... and where would they get access to all these texts? The Library of Alexandria. Why do people imagine The Library Of Alexandria was the only place where books existed? Didn't read Gmirkin's book, but... wondering whether he brings up the Library because he's trying to link the (final?) redaction of the Pentateuch and the Greek translation of it often associated with Ptolemy Philadelphus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Posted August 31, 2014 Author Share Posted August 31, 2014 I'm reading Gmirkin's book now. It's intriguing to say the least that the Pentateuch Redactor's actual "sources" were not JEDP but Berossus, Manetho, Herodotus ... and where would they get access to all these texts? The Library of Alexandria. Why do people imagine The Library Of Alexandria was the only place where books existed? Didn't read Gmirkin's book, but... wondering whether he brings up the Library because he's trying to link the (final?) redaction of the Pentateuch and the Greek translation of it often associated with Ptolemy Philadelphus? Gmirkin's assuming that The Letter of Aristeas contains a kernel of historical truth when it states that the "Books of the Law of Moses" were translated into Greek in Alexandria at the behest of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 270s. He uses this kernel to then argue that the actual Torah itself as well as the Greek translation were both written or compiled by the same group at that time, not on the island of Pharos like the legend says, but at the Library of Alexandria, where they would have had access to such books as Berossus and Manetho. Gmirkin doesn't actually argue that the Greek was the vorlage for the Hebrew, as the video above contends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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