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The Jehoash Inscription: An Evaluative Summary |
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NOTES[1] Among Israeli scholars, it is referred to as the "bedeq bayit" (Temple Repair) inscription.[2] Note the citations of Frank Cross, Shmuel Ahituv, Joseph Naveh, Victor Horowitz, and Edward Greenstein in the notes below.[3] Including D. N. Freedman, Chaim Cohen, André Lemaire, and Ronny Reich, cited in the notes below.[4] Argued most recently by Nadav Neeman, He‘Avar ha-Mekhonen ’et ha-Hoveh [The Past that Shapes the Present] (Jerusalem, 2002). Neeman in fact argued that the narrative now found in the biblical Book of Kings had relied upon two royal inscriptions, one authored by King Ahaz and one written by King Jehoash.[5] See the various essays on "Minimalism" by Dever, Thompson, Davies, Lemche, Isbell, and others.[6] F. M. Cross, "Notes on the Forged Plaque Recording Repairs to the Temple," Israel Exploration Journal 53 (2003), 121.[7] Cross, "Notes," 121.[8] Cross, "Notes," 120; Shmuel Ahituv, "Opinion Concerning the Authenticity of the ‘Jehoash Inscription’ and the Ossuary of ‘Ya’aqov son of Yosef brother of Yeshua’," in the Israel Antiquities Authority, Summary Report of the Examining Committees for the James Ossuary and Yehoash Inscription, Appendix 6a, 2-3.[9] Cross, Notes, 120.[10] Cf. also Tell el Qasile 2:1 or the comparable phrase "silver of Tarshish" (Moussaieff Ostracon 1:3-4).[11] Israel Eph’al, "The ‘Jehoash Inscription’: A Forgery," IEJ 53 (2003), 126; Victor Hurowitz, "The Jehoash Inscription," www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Hurowitz_report.htm[12] See especially Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription." It should be noted, however, that modern speakers of Hebrew would seldom use the biblical VAV-conversive form שעאו, but would almost universally choose the Perfect verbal form יתישע.[13] See 2 Kings 12:6, 7, 8, 9, 13; 22:5; Ezek 27:9, 27.[14] See Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription"; Ahituv, "Opinion, 5; and Edward L. Greenstein, "The Linguist: Hebrew Philology Spells Fake," BAR 29/3 (2003), 30.[15] Ahituv, "Opinion," 5-6; Greenstein, "The Linguist," 29.[16] See especially Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription"; and Greenstein, "The Linguist," 30.[17] Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription"; and Greenstein, "The Linguist," 30.[18] Cross, "Notes," 120.[19] See especially Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription."[20] Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription."[21] Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription."[22] Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription;" Ahituv, "Opinion," 6.[23] Note the perfect force of w’‘s ("I made, repaired") in lines 3 and 10.[24] Eph’al, "Jehoash Inscription," 126-27; Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription."[25] Eph’al, "Jehoash Inscription," 126-27; Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription."[26] H.G. M. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles (NCBC: Grand Rapids/London: Eerdmans/ Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1982) 319.[27] D. N. Freedman, "Don’t Rush to Judgment: Jehoash Inscription May Be Authentic," BAR 30/2 (2004) 48-51. Commenting on the form r’w, Randall Garr speaks of the w as an "alternate spelling for the third person masc. sing. suffix h" (Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine, 1000-586 B.C.E. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985, 57; see also 103).[28] See S. Godel, A Grammar of Epigraphic Hebrew (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998), 64.[29] For example, ’rwr in Silwan 2:2 and hwrs in Herr 90.[30] Godel, Grammar, 74.[31] Eph’al, "Jehoash Inscription," 124-25.[32] See the paraphrase of Cohen’s argument, exchanged orally and via the internet, by Hurowitz, "Jehoash Inscription."[33] Cross, "Notes," 121.[34] "Jehoash Inscription."[35] Freedman, "Don’t Rush to Judgment," 48-51.[36] Ronnie Reich, "An Alternative Reading," BAR 30/4 (2004) 47-48.[37] See 1 Chronicles 22:11; 2 Chronicles 31:21; 32:30; Daniel 8:12, 24; Jeremiah 22:20; 1 Kings 22:12, 15; Psalm 45:5.[38] NRSV translates "way" here (Hebrew ךרד) as "mission."[39] Cross, Notes, 120.[40] Note also miškan ha‘edut ("the tabernacle of the Testimony") in Exodus 38:21; Numbers 1:50; 10:11 compared with ’ohel ha‘edut ("tent of the Testimony") in Numbers 9:15; 17:22-23; and 18:2.[41] See e.g., Psalms 78:5; 81:6; 122:4; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 17:15; 22:3; Nehemiah 9:34; 1 Chronicles 29:19 and 2 Chronicles 34:31.[42] See Elisha Qimron, ‘lwl and blwl," Leshonenu 38 (1974) 225-227.[43] Cross, "Notes," 121.[44] Cross, "Notes," 121.[45] Published as GSI Current Research (Vol. 13, pp. 109-116).[46] See the citations of those who make such claims by Hershel Shanks, "Create a Fake and Win $10,000," BAR 29/3 (2003) 6, 8, 68.[47] Cited by Nadav Shragai in "There is Nothing Like It," Ha-’Aretz, January 19, 2003.[48] Who have promised to appoint two different committees of experts to study the inscription, one composed of biblical and linguistic specialists and a second composed of geological scientists.
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