Last month I looked at some Archaic Hebrew songs in the Classical era. Among those songs quoted in our "Numbers" not in ABH is 21:27-30... which is also cited in MT Jeremiah 48. Looks like it might refer to the king "Amon", who preceded Josiah.
When I saw the name "Amon" I'd thought this was some Egyptian motif. Paul D, however, notes that it is spelt "Ammon" in Greek and by Josephus. Based on this and on certain other motifs, Giovanni Garbini concluded that this wasn't a king at all, but a kingdom: that of Ammon. The real king then would have been he whom the song names: Sihon.
Sihon cast rather a shadow on Josiah-era Hebrew literature, such as the Psalms and the Prophets. He might also be mentioned in Deuteronomy and in that paraDeuteronomy. Also one must consider times when Judah was a vassal to the northern kingdom, or to Gath, or to Hazael of Damascus who destroyed Gath. Why not Ammon?
BACKDATE 2/23
No comments:
Post a Comment