RE: On the subject of Hell and Salvation
February 18, 2019 at 12:01 am
(This post was last modified: February 18, 2019 at 12:18 am by fredd bear.)
(February 17, 2019 at 11:04 pm)Belaqua Wrote:Was I unclear? YES, I agree that the Torah was written[down] around 700 bce. It was based on a much older oral tradition. Don't want to accept a religious Jewish view? Fair enough(February 17, 2019 at 10:58 pm)fredd bear Wrote: True enough, but it was based on oral mythology, which was much older..
A Jewish answer:
Dear Rabbi,
I believe that the "Five Books of Moses" comprise the Torah. How and when do we believe we received the Torah? Was it given to us directly from G
Dear Michael,
G-d gave the Torah to Moses and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai 3,316 years ago. This was seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt, on the 6th day of the month Sivan, in the year 2448 of the Jewish calendar. On that day, G-d revealed Himself to the entire Jewish people (which included some 600,000 adult men, in addition to women, children and the aged) and declared to them the Ten Commandments. Afterwards, Moses ascended Mount Sinai where, for forty days, G-d taught him the entire Written and Oral Torah. Later, on Yom Kippur, Moses descended with the second tablets of the Ten Commandments and began to teach the people what he heard from G-d on Mount Sinai.
https://ohr.edu/1438
If you go by the literalists, I'm sure the dates will be old. Maybe in the Bronze Age. But if we go by historical scholarship that will be different, of course.
According to the Wikipedia summary of the book that was linked to, there are various references in the Torah that indicate it was written later. Arameans, camels, etc.
So either the book is wrong, or the Torah was written long after the Bronze Age.
But we may be writing for rhetorical effect here, not trying to make accurate sentences.
To avoid further misunderstanding, or arguable error, I'll remove 'bronze age'. In the meantime I'll see what else I can find. If I find something , I'll update. If I'm wrong, I'll apologise. Interesting to discover how mentally lazy some people can be, especially myself. I've been using that bronze age reference for a long time, and have not been called out on it before. I've always thought the reference was correct. I'll do some more checking.
Addendum: I've done a bit of looking . All I can find is religious Jewish opinion, which is questionable as a source. At this point, I'm unable to state categorically, that the oral tradition of the Torah goes back to bronze age. Nor am I convinced this is not the case. As a result, I will no longer refer to the tribes who became the Jews as 'bronze age'. Yes, I admit, the rhetoric has a nice ring. However, I can no longer use it as it I can't prove I'm correct using the term.