ProfBenTziyyon wrote:
GIDEON MAGE wrote:
may we please see some documentation of this


The definition of the Hebrew term בַּֽעַל־אוֹב ba'al ov is given by the Mishnah (Treatise Sanhedrin 7:7)

בַּֽעַל־אוֹב—זֶה פִּיתּוּם הַמְדַבֵּר מִשֶּׁחְיוֹ.
Ba'al ov—this is a ventriloquist who speaks from his armpit”


The word used here for a ventriloquist, פִּיתּוּם pittum, is the same as the Greek πύθων python (no connection to the boa snake) and the Latin pythonicus, which Jerome uses to translate ov in the Vulgate (Vayikra 20:27).


No, seriously!  Is there any real documentation on this?  First you state over and over again that the Mishnah is commentary, then turn around and quote it as absolute truth.  And if Jerome is an authority on Judiasm now, you might as well believe in the Virgin Birth.  This was a joke, right?