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Re: Naphtali
Michael,
The "reply to" field is indeed fixed, although members of the list should
be aware that they will still need to supply the correct address manually
if they should attempt to reply to a message saved from before the fix.
Some food for thought as you meditate on Naphtali: it seems to me that the
value of the Tobit references goes beyond the specific citations of the name of
the tribe, since the theme of family or clan cohesion is integral to the plot
of the book. What to make of the choice of Naphtali is hard to say,
however: it could be a device of fiction through selection of an obscure
tribe, or it could reflect the continued existence of a tribal unit. It
is interesting that Tobit pictures the family as insisting upon worship
at Jerusalem rather than at Dan prior to deportation to Ninevah. Is
there any archaeological evidence outside of the extant literature for the
continued use of the names of tribes in general or Naphtali specifically during
the Persian and Greek periods? Wasn't Tobit present at Qumram?
I hope some of this will be helpful.
Sincerely,
David Suter
Saint Martin's College