Re: Numerics

David wrote (to George):

I am content to accept any of your suggestions concerning God's first utterances. As long as we can agree it was in the universal language that preceded Babel.

What universal language? The tower of Babel was the Mesopotamian ziggurat at Babylon originally constructed somewhere around 2300 BC (give or take a couple hundred years). The word bab-el means "gate of God" in Hebrew, and bab-ilu, from which Babtylon is derived, means "gate of God" in Accadian. At that late date, languages were all over the place, many originated in place. In Africa, disparate languages exist among tribes located only a few hundred miles apart.

Many languages developed in situ whereas many modern languages derived from previously spoken languages and changed over time as people migrated. In the region of Babylon at the time that zigurrat building was all the rage two languages were in use, Accadian from which Hebrew is derived, and Sumerian a totally unrelated language. So even in southern Mesopotamia at the time of Babel there were two different languages being spoken.

I know there is an overwhelming desire on this list to resolve all biblical difficulties, but we need to stay within historical constraints.

Dick Fischer - Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Tue Jun 7 12:17:49 2005