Posted on 07/22/2020 3:57:07 AM PDT by Its All Over Except ...
I never paid any attention to it before, but when looking in the reference section of an old Bible, I noticed a picture of Moses holding the 10 Commandments and on them was Masoretic Text which was not in existence in Moses' time.
Moses smashed the first set that God etched in Exodus 31:8 and chiseled out the second set.
The language during Moses' time would not have been Masoretic Text with its diacritic markings, nor its predecessor, Aramaic Hebrew, nor its predecessor, Paleo Hebrew. Paleo Hebrew though would have been in use during the time of the Davidic Kingdom and a few centuries before that owing to the Gezer Calendar, Silver Scroll, and other artifacts from the time period of the 10th to the 8th centuries BC that have been discovered having Paleo Hebrew inscribed upon them and hearkening back to a time just before them.
The Samaritan Pentateuchs origins stretch back to Paleo Hebrew, with the Dead Sea Scrolls containing scriptures written in it.
Moses was versed in all the knowledge of the Egyptians according to the Old Testament/Tanakh, and thus given he would not have etched MT to create the second set of 10 commandments, nor used Aramaic Hebrew, which was used by the Jews in Ezra's time before MT was used after Aramaic Hebrew, nor used Paleo/Proto Hebrew which was in use before Aramaic Hebrew, the only possibility would seem to be Proto-Sinaitic used by Moses to etch the second set.
Here’s more:
Secondly, since we don’t know what language specifically the “Ten Commandments” were written in, and I gave options in the title, we can at least understand that God would know what languages Moses knew so it stands to reason He would etch the 10 commandments with a language that Moses would know and be able to continue using for the Torah.
So based upon that it is either God etched in an unknown language or more likely would use a language Moses knew when he wrote the Torah (the Torah that God also gave Moses) and the language that Moses would understand the moment Moses looked at the tablets.
So since Paleo Hebrew stretches back to Proto Sinaitic and there would be Egyptian Hieroglyphics before that, I imagine it’s one of the two or something in between on the tablets.
Point is, why would anyone expect it to be Masoretic or Aramaic? Regardless, since the tablets are not available for study (and there have been those who have sought the broken tablets as definitive proof of their identification of the real Mt Sinai), this is merely something to wonder about.
Why are there pics on Google images, and many of them, and pics in a Bible reference section, and who knows how many others, of Masoretic Text being shown on two tablets?
You conveniently-ignore the main body of my comment. To-wit:
“The oldest copies of the Masoretic Text only date back to the 10th century, nearly 1000 years after the time of Christ.”
https://theorthodoxlife.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/masoretic-text-vs-original-hebrew/
Thus the Old Testament inscription you reference in the OP is wrong and the debate about the image moot.
I’m not going to comment further. Obviously this is an area of interest for you, but I refuse to wade into a debate (or argument) about a text which had been so heavily modified over those early centuries that this is a perfect example of extracting truth from the OT texts and being honest enough to concede that some content was “filler”.
If ever I am granted the blessing to see Moses, I’ll ask him. Meanwhile G-d has not spoken to me that I should worry about it.
Secondly, Greek was used for the NT but that doesn’t make it a holy language and since Masoretic Text, Aramaic Hebrew, and Paleo Hebrew werent used on the two tablets, how can they be considered holy languages? The holy language would be on the two tablets.
It stands to reason that a continuity would be established and that the Torah written by Moses with God giving it to him would be written in the same language.
Or does any seriously think Moses was learned in Masoretic Text, Aramaic Hebrew or Paleo Hebrew way back then. I mean, seriously...
We can at least acknowledge the two tablets are not written in MT, Aramaic Hebrew, or Paleo Hebrew as we have nothing to posit this assertion from, and they came long after Moses’ time.
...and Paleo Hebrew werent used on the two tablets...
Really? Show us.
Moses grew up in Egypt. The Jews were in Egypt for generations, as servants/slaves of the Egyptians. They necessarily spoke and wrote Egyptian, whatever else they might have spoken among themselves.
I know about the article you cited.
Where am I wrong?
There were two inscriptions I listed - a.) one Silver Scroll, b.) then another, then I brought up there were other inscriptions, and then I brought up the two tablets.
The Proto Sinatic inscriptions have also been referenced and there are more than one.
You only reference one inscription. Which one?
And yes the oldest MT copy is the Leningrad Codex, next I believe is the Aleppo which has a missing or stolen Torah.
Proto Sinaitic script was used around Moses’ time and also Egyptian heiroglyphic.
Paleo Hebrew was used in the 11th to 5th century BC, but perhaps a little before the 11th but not the 14th or 15th.
Do you honestly think that anything other than some form of hieroglyphic, Proto Sinaitic, or something in between was used on the two tablets?
But, but, but, MT has to be on the two tablets, it just has to be! Or maybe it’s Aramaic Hebrew?
Nah, it’s NIV, NASB, or KJV - or NKJV. Unless it’s 1611 KJV.
Rust seems to be fairly popular these days. If you want speed though, C is still the way to go.
The universe was in fact created out of the Hebrew alphabet. Adam and Eve spoke Hebrew. The first tablets were in ketav 'asshuri and the second in ketav `Ivri.
” a picture of Moses holding the 10 Commandments and on them was Masoretic Text which was not in existence in Moses’ time.”
Was it a REAL photo? /s
Was the photo time stamped? /s
Analyzing the writing on a “photo of Moses” as if it were the “actual” writing on the stone tablets.
HUH? (I am restraining myself from commenting on the author’s mental capacity)
Maybe Google has the originals. Stop arguing with Google.
bump
Do you honestly think that you know exactly what was on those tablets, since you don't have access to the tablets, nor does anyone? It's just as plausible that they were hieroglyphic texts.
Exactly! And this is why those tablets were revered and preserved and placed within the Ark of the Covenant. They were etched by the very hand of God. Perhaps on the day that it is found and opened we will ALL know the answer to your question. In the meantime, suffice it to say that whatever language God used to record His commandments to the children of Israel, they were understood, memorized, taught and passed down.
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