From: George Athas (gathas@mail.usyd.edu.au)
Date: Tue Feb 03 1998 - 16:28:14 EST
So, have I understood the situation correctly:
* The suggestion of KAMHLON meaning "rope" was "invented" (for want of a
better word) to posit a different, less 'outrageous' meaning for the
saying of Jesus?
* This means that outside this suggestion, there is no word for "rope"
which is similar to KAMHLON?
* Another platform for rejecting the meaning of "rope" is an Arabic
proverb which is very similar to Jesus' saying?
If the Arabic proverb had its origins in Jesus' saying in the first
place, it does not really constitute a clinching argument that "camel"
is what Jesus said. However, if the Arabic proverb preceded Jesus'
saying then perhaps Jesus took his cue from it. In that case, there is
no doubt about the meaning of KAMHLON. Does anyone know how old this
proverb is?
Secondly, is there certainly no attestation to a word for rope that
looks like KAMHLON outside the NT?
Thanks for the responses so far.
George Athas
PhD (Cand.), University of Sydney
Tutor of Hebrew, Moore Theological College
Phone: 0414 839 964 ICQ#: 5866591
Email: gathas@mail.usyd.edu.au
(Visit the Tel Dan Inscription Website at)
(http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~gathas/teldan.htm)
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