The Backyard Professor

One Sample of How Ugaritic is increasing our Understanding of the Biblical Languages

Here is just one example, among many thousands, of how Ugaritic is helping us with Hebrew and the ancient Israelite Religious outlooks and knowledge and ways of life. This is an important resource I just recently acquired and I am very excited to share a lot of this material with you as I incorporate it into my research as well.

The absolute ending of the feminine in -t and -at is of rather frequent occurrence in Hebrew. Beyond the instances cited by grammarians (e. g., G-K, § 80), the following might be considered: Ps. 27:4, ʾaḥat šāʾaltî mēʾāt (MT mēʾēt) yahweh ʾôtāh ʾ^abaqqēš, “One thing I have asked a hundred times; O Yahweh, this do I seek”. Compare absolute m^eʾat (perhaps better mēʾāt) in Eccles. 8:12. Job 27:13, zeh ḥēleq ʾādām rāšāʿ ʿim ʾēl w^enaḥalat ʿārîṣîm miššadday yiqqāḥû, “This is the wicked man’s portion from God (see under 10.14 below for ʿim, “from”), the inheritance tyrants receive from Shaddai”. The substantive naḥalat is not the regens of a construct chain, but an absolute noun serving as the accusative object of yiqqāḥû. Prov. 6:34, kî qān^eʾāh ḥēmāt (MT qinʾāh ḥ^amat) gāber w^elōʾ yaḥmôl b^eyôm nāqām, “For her husband will be livid with rage, and he will be unsparing on the day of vengeance”.

Some Archaeological/Historical Background on Ugarit

Since Ugaritic has such important implications for the Israelite religion and politics, I think this background is very helpful for us as we learn more about the Council of the Gods, the sociological makeup of units of military and family groupings, their political issues, etc.

UGARIT An ancient town in northern Syria whose remains have been identified at Ras Shamra; situated near a small harbor named Minet el-Beida (‘white harbor’). Excavation of the site began in 1929 under C.F.A. Schaeffer and G. Chenet, on behalf of the French Academy. The site was inhabited as early as the Neolithic period. In the Chalcolithic period it had already developed a relatively rich culture, which shows Mesopotamian influence. It was a key point on the route leading from

Archaeological Proof for the Bible - Some Issues

 There is great danger in using archaeology for apologetics. It is a two-edged sword. Jericho provides an excellent example. On the basis of John Garstang’s excavations of 1930–1936 evangelicals have argued that archaeological evidence indicates that the walls did indeed fall outward. Yet some today seem still unaware that Kathleen Kenyon’s work of 1952–1958 demonstrated that Garstang’s fortifications actually stemmed from an earlier period, namely, an early Bronze Age city destroyed by an earthquake and fire about 2300 b.c. (rather than the 1400 b.c.date of Garstang). To date, there is an absence of evidence for the biblical story regarding the walls of Jericho. This does not disprove the biblical data (see Dumbrell 1985:130–39) but does exemplify the serious problems in an apologetic use of archaeology. We dare not reach too hasty conclusions as to the relevance of archaeological discoveries. Often the problems outweigh the solutions, and it is dishonest to use a tool only when it supports us and to neglect it when it does not.