Responding to my statement, Stein asked,
<< I think it is also very important to recognize that if the Exodus
| was in the 13th - 12th centuries, the Song of Miriam in Exodus 15 is
| dated by competent biblical scholars to the 13th-12th centuries,
| making it an historical testimony which cannot easily be set aside,
| particularly by a lack of evidence on the other side.
By the Song of Miriam you mean Exodus 15:20-21? I'm curious how those
verses can be dated so precisely. What is involved in such an
argument? >>
Verse 21 is at the heart of it; but this verse is repeated in v. 1, thus
forming an envelope around verses 2-18. hence I was referring to Ex 15:1-18,
21. However, v.v. 2-18 have had a little editing over the years and are
usually referred to as The Song of the Sea. But, 2-18 is still substantially
from the 13th/12th century BC.
The dating is based on comparison of the vocabulary and poetic style to the
poetry of Canaan (Ugaritic) which can be dated.
The relevant bibliography is:
W.F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (N.Y., 1968) 12-13;
David A. Robertson, Linguistic Evidence in Dating Hebrew Poetry, SBL
dissertation Series 3 (Missoula, MT: 1972) 153-56, especially 155;
P.C. Craige, "An Egyptian Expression in the Song of the Sea (Exodus XV 4)"
Vetus Testamentum 20 (1970) 83-84 and in the same journal but vol 22 (1972)
144-145, "Psalm XXIX in the Hebrew Poetic Tradition."
F.M. Cross, "The Song of the Sea and Canaanite Myth," Chapter 6 of his book,
Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (Cambridge, MA, Harvard U. Press,1973) 112-44,
especially 121-25.
There is related information in David N. Freedman, "Early Israelite History
in the Light of Early Israelite Poetry" in Unity and Diversity: Essays in the
History, Literature and Religion of the the Ancient Near East, ed. H.
Goedicke and J.J.M. Roberts (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U., 1975) 3-35 and by
the same author, "Early Israelite Poetry and Historical Considerations," "The
Song of the Sea," and "Strophe and Meter in Ex 15" all in his book, Pottery,
Poetry and Prophecy (Winona Lake, IND, Eisenbraun's 1980)
best wishes,
Paul
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