כותב ספר נחמיה מודה בהעתקה מספר יהושע?

מאת: אבנר רמו

אל: avnerramu @ aol.com

In a list of the towns in the inheritance of the tribe of Judah we find:
אמם ושמע ומולדה.
וחצר גדה וחשמון, ובית פלט.
וחצר שועל ובאר שבע ובזיותיה.
“Amam, and Shema, and Moladah;
And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-pelet;
And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah” (Jos 15:26-28).

The Greek translator wrote here: “and their villages and their farmland” and it appears that he assumed that ובזיותיה (uviziotheha) is a misspelled ובנותיה (uvenotheha) - “and her villages” (e.g. Jos 15:45; 17:11, 16). It is possible that this Greek translator was aware of the references of the writer of the Book of Nehemiah to the villages, and the fields, of the children of Judah of his day:
ובישוע ובמלדה, ובבית פלט.
ובחצר שועל ובבאר שבע ובנתיה.
“And in Jeshua, and in Moladah, and Beth-pelet; 27 and in Hazar-shual, and in Beer-sheba and the towns thereof” (Neh 11:26-27).

We have to wonder whether the fact that verse Neh 11:26 mentions the name ישוע - “Jeshua” (the Greeks wrote here: “Iesou”), while such a name is not mentioned in Jos 15:26, is the way in which the writer of the Book of Nehemiah is telling us that the source of this information is from the Book of יהושע - “Joshua” (in Greek: “Iesous”).

If this assumption is correct then it appears that this writer also “corrected” ובזיותיה (uviziotheha) to ובנותיה (uvenotheha) - “and her villages.”