Appendix
In the spirit of Cleon Roger's proposal of a solution to Numbers 12:3 that would
allow it to remain within the realm of Mosaic authorship, I offer the following
preliminary outline regarding one of the texts often marked as an obvious post-Mosaic
addition.
" U r o f t h e C h a l d e a n s " ( G e n 1 1 : 2 8 , 3 1 ) :
A M o d e l f o r D e a l i n g w i t h D i f f i c u l t T e x t s
Prepared by William D. Barrick, Th.D.
Professor of OT
The Master's Seminary
1.0
The Hebrew text in Genesis 11:28 and 31 contains the phrase
{yiD:&aK rU)
("Ur
of the Chaldeans"). This is variously treated as an anachronism
post-Mosaic textual updating.
2.0
Is there any viable option other than either of the above opinions? Is there
evidence that might indicate that the text could have been written as is by Moses
himself?
2.1 Linguistic
Evidence: The phenomenon of a phonetic shift of the sibilant
(
&
) followed by a dental (
D
) to a lamed is well-recognized as a peculiarity
of the Akkadian language. It appeared in the 2nd millennium B.C. and
continued until the Neo-Babylonian era.
1
"[T]he epithet `of the Chaldaeans' is probably anachronistic in Abram's day, since the Chaldaeans
(Assyrian Kaldu) did not penetrate Babylonia till about 1000 B.C. It therefore most likely represents a gloss
on the old tradition"--Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1--15, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, Tex.: Word
Books, Publisher, 1987), 272. "A later editor or scribe was aware of more than one city called `Ur' in the
ancient Near East. Since the Chaldeans did not exist in the ancient world until nearly a thousand years after
Abram's day, the designation `of the Chaldeans' was without question added by a later scribe in order to
distinguish which Ur was meant"--Bill T. Arnold, Encountering the Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker Books, 1998), 78.
2
This textual updating takes upon itself the flavor of each individual viewpoint theologically and
canonically. John H. Sailhamer ("Genesis," The Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein
[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Regency Reference Library/Zondervan Publish House, 1990], 2:110) attributes the
updating to an editor who desired to make "Abraham prefigure all those future exiles who, in faith, wait for
the return to the Promised Land." That post-exilic editor, therefore, is harmonizing the text of Genesis with
the texts of later prophets to make the association with Babylon. Such an approach to textual updating is
more than just a minor addition to clarify which Ur for later readers.
3
Anson Rainey, "Chaldea, Chaldeans," Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House Ltd.,
1971), 5:330.