In the Old Testament the word
na'ar occurs many times and in the Japanese translation or RSV it is generally rendered “servant” or “young man”. However, it must be called attention to the fact that this
na'ar has many parallel aspects with Egyptian
n'ryn, Ugaritic
n'rm in the Amarna Age and
koûpoi in Iliad and Odessey, and thus this shows that
na'ar should be dealt with and understood in the same East Mediterranean background.
It is certain that in the Old Testament there are many cases in which this
na'ar should be rendered simply “servant” or “young man”, but the more important point is that in Samuels, Judges, Kings etc. we also find out many other cases in which the word
na'ar means a member of the élite-group of attendants or a
gibbôr háyil given the special role in the political or military field. That is,
ne'arîm (plural form of
na'ar) is to be dealt with as a sort of social stratum. The present study seems to indicate some support for C. H. Gordon's contention that Greek and Hebrew civilizations are parallel structures built upon the same East Mediterranean foundation. Hence, our translating of
na'ar should be carefully made case by case, according to the above understanding.
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