Correspondence

CORRESPONDENCE Response to the review of C. Westennann, Wurzeln der Weisheit, 1990, in Hebrew Studies 34 (1993), pp. 226-230. Ich danke dem Referenten fUr seine grUndliche und sorgfahige Rezension. Er sagt zu Anfang: "...placing them (the proverbs) in larger thematic groups," aber Uber die Bedeutung dieser Gruppierung sagt er nichts. Vor mit hat m.W. noch kein Ausleger die Notwendigkeit gesehen, aUe SprUche sachlich zu gruppieren, weil man die SprUche im ganzen erst so verstehen kann. Ich halte dies fUr eines der wichtigsten Ergebnisse meiner Untersuchung (ich hatte es schon in frUheren Arbeiten gesagt). Will man verstehen, was die SprUche meinen. wenn sie vom Weisen reden, muB man die Gruppe "der Weise - der Tor" vollstandig kennen, auch in ihren Gliederungen. Nur wenn man aile SprUche in Gruppen gliedert, weiB man, wovon die SprUche reden und wovon sie nicht reden. Darin ist es wohl begrUndet. daB die Rezension inhaltlich von den SprUchen nur sehr wenig sagt. Was kommt in den SprUchen vor, was kommt nicht vor? Was den SprUchen wichtig ist, was weniger und was gar nicht, kann nur ein Vergleich aller Gruppen ergeben; ohne das weiB man es nicht. Greift man nur, wie die Rezension, einige wenige Gruppen heraus. kann man nicht Uber die SprUche im ganzen urteilen. Zu S. 228: Ich sage nicht. daB aile einzeiligen SprUche frUh. aile zweilzeiligen spat seien. Zu S. 229: Ich sage nicht, die frUhe Weisheit sei nicht theologisch, vgl. den groBen Abschnitt S. 13off: "Gott und Mensch in der frUhen Spruchweisheit." Zu der Unterscheidung Weltschopfung - Menschenschopfung in der Weisheit vgl. P. 0011. Menschenschopfung und Weltschopfung in der alllestamen/lichen Weisheit, 1985. Mit Dank fUr die freundliche Ennoglichung einer Antwort und freundlichen GruBen. c. Westermann Ausustinum Heidelberg, GERMANY Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 248 Correspondence I am very pleased to have this opportunity to respond to Professor Gary Rendsburg's judicious and generous review of my monograph, The Origins and Development of the Waw Consecutive (Hebrew Studies 34 [1993] pp. 557-558). Professor Rendsburg's major criticism of the monograph involves my rejection of the comparison of the waw-consecutive with the Egyptian iw sdm-n{ form. While some commentators have accepted this comparison it does not command the assent of the field for a variety of reasons. Interestingly, Rendsburg does not address these reasons, and in reiterating his position he notes some further difficulties as well. This alternative proposal needs a full-scale defense rather than the smattering of short articles which it has thus far received.I In retrospect, the different views perhaps illustrate the sociology of the field: comparative linguists of AfroAsiatic languages tend to favor a broader framework and solution compared to grammarians who work with the more immediate West Semitic group of languages.2 In further defending the Egyptian connection, Rendsburg argues that where in the Levant Egyptian administration was strongest during New Kingdom times, that is, "southern Canaan," there one finds the wawconsecutive . To obviate the obvious problem of the waw-consecutive in Aramaic texts, Rendsburg suggests that the waw-consecutive in Aramaic reflects "Canaanite influence." Such a further appeal is not difficult to make, but it is one which will require further application. A new Aramaic stele fragment from Tel Dan likewise contains at least three examples of the wawconsecutive : wy!kb, "and he lay down," that is, "died" (1. 3); wyhk, "and he went" (1. 5); w1qtl, "and I killed" (1. 6); and wl!m (1), "and I put" (?) (1. 9),3 The real problem for Rendsburg's interesting hypothesis involves the Phoenician evidence. Rendsburg accepts the view (also assumed in my monograph) that attested Phoenician texts lacks the waw-consecutive (no forms were listed in the "sample" of forms given on pp. 17-18). This situation would suit his view that "northern Canaan," including Phoenicia, was less influenced by Egypt in the New Kingdom period. Another reviewer, however, notes the existence of the waw-consecutive in I The longest treatment 10 date, the largely unknown master's thesis of 1. Brenner ("Egyptian Elucidation of the Hebrew Particle WA," Master's thesis. Department of Near Eastern Languagcs and Civilizations, Yale Univcrsity New Havcn, CT., 1986) does not inspire confidencc in the theory. 2 According the Rendsburg...