Who Is Eliezer of Damascus at Genesis 15: 2?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:34 am
Who Is Eliezer of Damascus at Genesis 15: 2?
It is unlikely that Abraham ever had a servant from Damascus. And if Abraham did have a faithful servant from Damascus, it is unlikely that righteous Abraham would ridicule such faithful servant at Genesis 15: 2. But then who is Eliezer of Damascus at Genesis 15: 2?
In the Patriarchal narratives, the name “Eliezer” : ’L –Y-‘ZR only appears at Genesis 15: 2. The conventional assumption is, in my opinion, in error in holding that this is the name of Abraham’s chief servant at Genesis 24: 2, who plays a critical role throughout chapter 24 of Genesis in faithfully going all the long way out east to eastern Syria/Naharim and bringing back Rebekah as Isaac’s ideal bride. Abraham’s eldest servant is clearly viewed very positively. That does not fit the context of Genesis 15: 2 at all, where nothing is positive, and Abraham is wracked with despair over his lack of a son by Sarah. Abraham may in fact be making a sardonic, sarcastic comment, in the depths of his despair.
Is Abraham saying, completely sarcastically, that if Abraham cannot sire a son by Sarah, then Abraham’s goods might just as well pass to a no-good princeling from Amurru in northern Lebanon who, historically, was oddly at Damascus at that time [shortly after the “Year 13” that is expressly referenced in the preceding chapter at Genesis 14: 4], and who was one of the most disreputable persons of that era? If we give the Hebrew phrase BN M$Q BYTY a more literal and accurate translation than usual, namely “heir/‘son’/possessor of my house” [in the sense of a “son” being heir], and if we take off the theophoric in the name “Eliezer” : ’L –Y-‘ZR, so that the remaining name [with the theophoric being implied but not express] is now simply ‘ZR, which could be transliterated as “Aziru” [since the historical name “Aziru” is but a shortened version of the Biblical full-form name “El-i-ezer”], then this is what results:
“And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir/‘son’/possessor of my house [BN M$Q BYTY] -- Aziru/‘ZR of Damascus?”
The sentence is deliberately outrageous, being totally sarcastic, in order to make Abraham’s heartfelt point that as a righteous man he should have a son by Sarah to be his rightful heir. Abraham is not casting aspersions on his best, most faithful and oldest servant. Not. Rather, Abraham is saying, in despair, that if he cannot sire a son by Sarah, then there’s no point in God giving Abraham more material goods, and in fact, the goods of his house might then just as well go to the notorious scoundrel who historically was [in or about Year 13] currently, and suspiciously, in Damascus: Aziru/‘ZR.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
It is unlikely that Abraham ever had a servant from Damascus. And if Abraham did have a faithful servant from Damascus, it is unlikely that righteous Abraham would ridicule such faithful servant at Genesis 15: 2. But then who is Eliezer of Damascus at Genesis 15: 2?
In the Patriarchal narratives, the name “Eliezer” : ’L –Y-‘ZR only appears at Genesis 15: 2. The conventional assumption is, in my opinion, in error in holding that this is the name of Abraham’s chief servant at Genesis 24: 2, who plays a critical role throughout chapter 24 of Genesis in faithfully going all the long way out east to eastern Syria/Naharim and bringing back Rebekah as Isaac’s ideal bride. Abraham’s eldest servant is clearly viewed very positively. That does not fit the context of Genesis 15: 2 at all, where nothing is positive, and Abraham is wracked with despair over his lack of a son by Sarah. Abraham may in fact be making a sardonic, sarcastic comment, in the depths of his despair.
Is Abraham saying, completely sarcastically, that if Abraham cannot sire a son by Sarah, then Abraham’s goods might just as well pass to a no-good princeling from Amurru in northern Lebanon who, historically, was oddly at Damascus at that time [shortly after the “Year 13” that is expressly referenced in the preceding chapter at Genesis 14: 4], and who was one of the most disreputable persons of that era? If we give the Hebrew phrase BN M$Q BYTY a more literal and accurate translation than usual, namely “heir/‘son’/possessor of my house” [in the sense of a “son” being heir], and if we take off the theophoric in the name “Eliezer” : ’L –Y-‘ZR, so that the remaining name [with the theophoric being implied but not express] is now simply ‘ZR, which could be transliterated as “Aziru” [since the historical name “Aziru” is but a shortened version of the Biblical full-form name “El-i-ezer”], then this is what results:
“And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir/‘son’/possessor of my house [BN M$Q BYTY] -- Aziru/‘ZR of Damascus?”
The sentence is deliberately outrageous, being totally sarcastic, in order to make Abraham’s heartfelt point that as a righteous man he should have a son by Sarah to be his rightful heir. Abraham is not casting aspersions on his best, most faithful and oldest servant. Not. Rather, Abraham is saying, in despair, that if he cannot sire a son by Sarah, then there’s no point in God giving Abraham more material goods, and in fact, the goods of his house might then just as well go to the notorious scoundrel who historically was [in or about Year 13] currently, and suspiciously, in Damascus: Aziru/‘ZR.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois