Sodom and Gomorrah

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Saboi

Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

When a location is introduced there is usually a poetic word that describes the name.

Chemar (חמר ) & Gomorrah (עמרה)
Sidim (שדים) & Sodom (סדם )

The Septuagint renders שדים as ἁλυκὴ "Salt" and this occurs in reverse in Joshua

Joshua 15:62 - עיר־המלח (City of Salt) : πόλεις Σαδωμ ( City of Sadwm)
* Σαδωμ is a transliteration of שדים

ἅλων
1. Salt
2. plantation or threshing floor

מלח (Malach)
1. Salt
2. Soft

ἁλυκός (Alukos) - Salt
μαλακός (Malakos) - Soft

Gen 19:1 - There came two angels (Malakim ) *Elisha & Elijah?
μαλακῶν : מלאכים "Salt/Soft"

2 Kings 2 20
And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
He went forth unto the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there, thus saith the LORD
I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
So the waters were healed

What is this healing of water with salt?
Saboi

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

Greek words of unknown origin can be explained using Hebrew

Gen 14:10
חמר (Chemar) *MT
ἀσφάλτου (Asphalt) *LXX

The word ἀσφάλτου (Asphalt) from אשכלת (Ashkolt) "Cluster of Grapes"

The Ancient Greek meaning of ἀσφάλτου is Tartaric Acid which is mostly
found in grapes and the byproduct of Wine fermentation.

חמר (Chemar) describe the dregs of Wine in Psalm 75:8
Dregs - tartaric acid crystals, leftover from the winemaking process.
Saboi

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

The word Tartaric came from Tartarus.

This place is oddly described in Revelation 9:1 that writes "key of the bottomless pit"
or κλεὶς τοῦ φρέατος τῆς ἀβύσσου and the word φρέατος is בארת.

Genesis 14:10 - φρέατα φρέατα : בארת בארת

The word ἀβύσσου a translation of תהמ (tehom) or בתהמות (Btemut) and the meaning of ποταμός (Potamos).

This is describing a Wine vat and are commonly found throughout Israeli archaeology.
Image
Saboi

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

Deuteronomy 32:32
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the vine-branch of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter

The word משדמת in Septuagint renders κληματὶς "Vine-Branch" , A more poetic word they could use
is ἡμερίς ( Hmeris) "Cultivated vine".

The word משדמ is μαστόν "woman's breast" or poetically κρεμαστόν "Hung/Suspended"
and κρεμαστήρ "Suspender" but also a stalk by which a grape-cluster hangs and the
word κρεμάω is the meaning behind כרמ (Kerem) "Vineyard".

Act 5:30 - κρεμάσαντες ( Hanging-Jesus)

ראש (Ras) "Gall / Head"
- κράς (Kras) Head
- πικράς (Pikras) Bitter
-πικρός (Pikros) Sharp taste
- κρατήρ (Krathr) Mixing Vessel ( Παντοκράτωρ )
- κεράσω (Keras) mix, mingle ( mostly of diluting wine with water)
- κρᾶσις (Krasis) mixing, blending
-שכר (shekar) - σικερα (Sikera) "fermented liquor, strong drink"
- Mithras

The Ancient used a conical container formed in the shape of an animal's head or horns usually of a Bull
also called Rhyton.

The word Grail derives from κρατήρ (Krater) which is the suffix of Παντοκράτωρ (Pantokrater)
and the Holy Grail is χολή κρατήρ and the word Alcohol came from ἧ χολή.

The word Mithras (the god) came from משרת (mishrah) "Liquor" see Sanskrit रस Rasa and मूत्र Mūtra "Wine"
cognate with πικράς (μίτρας)

Deuteronomy 32:33 - פתנים (pethen) = ἀψίνθιον / Absinthe

שכר (shekar) - σικερα (Sikera) "fermented liquor, strong drink"
from κεράς "Mixed"

The Bible is a history of wine making.
James Stinehart

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by James Stinehart »

Saboi wrote: “Sidim (שדים) & Sodom (סדם ). The Septuagint renders שדים as ἁλυκὴ "Salt" and this occurs in reverse in Joshua”.

The names “Siddim” / שדים and “Sodom” / סדם have nothing to do with “salt”. sad-ym [misleadingly transliterated by KJV as “Siddim”] is the archaic plural of sadeh, with the plural form sad-ym meaning “cultivated fields”, and as such implying “Good Fields Place”. The primary meaning of “Sodom” is likewise “Good Fields Place”. As such, neither “Siddim” nor “Sodom” has anything to do with “salt”. The secondary meaning of Lot’s “Sodom” / Shudama is a play on the city-name Shunama, in the Jezreel Valley. Although princeling Bera’s Sodom is located in a valley of cultivated fields / vale of Siddim (chapter 14 of Genesis), Lot’s Sodom is a completely different place, with a completely different geographical location (chapters 13, 18, 19 of Genesis).

Focusing now on Lot’s Sodom, per Genesis 13: 9-10, when Lot parted ways with Abram at Bethel, Lot went north to the Jezreel Valley, eventually settling at Shunama / Lot’s Sodom: “9 Is not the whole land [of Canaan] before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand [north], then I will go to the right [south]; or if thou depart to the right hand [south], then I will go to the left [north]. 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain [kikkar] of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt….”

From a mountaintop northeast of Bethel, one can see the eastern edge of the lush Jezreel Valley at Beth Shean. The Jezreel Valley is the only place in greater Canaan that is “well watered every where,…like the [Nile River Valley in] the land of Egypt” -- the Jezreel Valley is inundated by countless streams, and accordingly has always been the breadbasket of Canaan. By stark contrast, the area south of the Dead Sea cannot be seen from Bethel, and is not at all like the well watered Nile River Valley in Egypt.

In the Late Bronze Age, the name “Jezreel” did not yet exist, and so the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives could only describe the Jezreel Valley, which he does magnificently at Genesis 13: 9-10 (quoted above). The erroneous scholarly view that Lot’s Sodom was allegedly located south of the Dead Sea (i) ignores the text of Genesis 13: 9-10 entirely, (ii) claims a hatred of Israel that in fact is totally non-existent in the 99% of the received text of the Patriarchal narratives that does not consist of later-added “glosses”, and (iii) relies entirely on the openly-disclosed “glosses” in the last two verses of chapter 19 of Genesis, each of which explicitly says “unto to this very day” -- meaning that such verses are “glosses” added by a mid-1st millennium BCE editor, rather than being part of the original version of the Patriarchal narratives.

Lot’s Sodom has nothing to do with “salt”, but rather is the Late Bronze Age city of Shunama in the Jezreel Valley. Genesis 14: 4 expressly references “Year 13”. Historically, in Year 13 of the Amarna Age, the Jezreel Valley engaged in a frightening rebellion (the single best-known incident in Canaan in the Amarna Letters). Using artistic license, the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives portrays Shunama / Lot’s Sodom as deserving to be destroyed by fire and brimstone, as if by the worst east wind of all time.

Contra the scholarly view, (i) the Patriarchal narratives were composed by an early Hebrew author who did not hate Israel, (ii) Lot’s Sodom is Shunama in the Jezreel Valley (which, umpteen centuries after the composition of the Patriarchal narratives, would become part of Israel), and (iii) the sin of the people of Lot’s Sodom is an historical sin: their frightening rebellion in Year 13.

Jim Stinehart
Saboi

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

The clue to the geographical location is Genesis 10:19.
ויהי גבול הכנעני מצידן באכה גררה עד־עזה באכה סדמה ועמרה ואדמה וצבים עד־לשע

Sodom
Gomorrah
Admah
Zeboim
Lasha

These towns are listed in Genesis 14:2 except for Lasha, that reads "בלע היא־צער" (Bela which is Soar)
and בלע means βωλά "council of elders" and צער means ἀγορᾷ "council of Chiefs & market place"
then its plausible that סדמ is σύνοδος, ξύνοδος "assembly" then עמר is a dialect form of ἀγορά.
and צבא for σαμεῖα"body of troops", לשע for λάχος "appointed office", אדמה for ἔθνος "body of men".

The places are mentioned in Hosea 11:8 with אפרים for ᾰ̓γοραῖν.

Joshua 15:9 בעלה היא קרית יערים : βουλή ἐστὶν πόλις ἄγορον
Joshua 15:60 קרית־בעל היא קרית יערים : πόλις βουλῇ ἐστὶν πόλις ἄγορον
Ezra 2:25 קרית ערים : πόλις βουλῇ
Genesis 14:2 בלע היא־צער : βουλή ἐστὶν ἀγορά
Joshua 15:3 שערים, עדיתים : ᾰ̓γοραῖν ἔθνος "city ruled by two assemblies"

In 2 Samuel 5:18, עמק רפאים "Valley of Raphaim" translates τὴν κοιλάδα τῶν τιτάνων and τιτάνων is also a cognate of שדים because שד & שיד in Deuteronomy 27:2 are words for quicklime, see the secondary meaning of τίτανος (Titan) "white-earth, quicklime, gypsum" so if the late works of Genesis where inscribing from Greek source. עמק־רפאים > κοιλάδα τιτάνων > עמק־שדים.

Then plausible the battleground was Rafah

Rafah
1. first stop on Pharaoh Shoshenq I's campaign to the Levant in (925 BCE)
2. the site of the Assyrian king Sargon II's victory over the Egyptians (720 BCE)
3. Battle of Raphia (217 BCE)

רפאים
1. θεραπεία, θεράπων "body of attendants, companion in arms"
2. θεραπεύω, θεράπευμα "care of the body, therapy, to treat medically"
3. ὑπερφυής "growing above the ground, overgrown, enormous
4. θεράπνη "handmaid, Θεράπνη, Σεράπνα , a Laconian city. (Therapne)

Therapne
1. Obadiah 1:9
- Zarephath (צרפת) "Therapne",
- Sepharad (ספרד) "Sparta"
2. City on the coast south of Sidon, Sarepta, Sarafand, invasion of Shalmaneser IV, 722
an fell to Sennacherib in 701. Sarepta ( ἑπτάπυλα/שער־שבע "Seven-gates?)
James Stinehart

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by James Stinehart »

Saboi:

You wrote: “The clue to the geographical location is Genesis 10:19. …Sodom; Gomorrah; Admah; Zeboim; Lasha. These towns are listed in Genesis 14:2 except for Lasha, that reads "בלע היא־צער" (Bela which is Soar)”.

Not.

1. The only truly ancient text in the Bible concerning these matters is the Patriarchal narratives, which start at Genesis 11: 26 with the first mention of Abram, and consist of the last 40 chapters of Genesis. By contrast, the first ten chapters of Genesis, including Genesis 10: 19 that you cite, post-date the composition of the Patriarchal narratives by many centuries.

2. The Sodom you are referring to here is princeling Bera’s Sodom (chapter 14 of Genesis), not Lot’s Sodom (chapters 13, 18, 19 of Genesis). Only princeling Bera’s Sodom is located close to Admah and Zeboiim (with all three such names being generic Hebrew nicknames that mean “Good Fields Place”). Thus when Lot’s Sodom, and the Gomorrah near Lot’s Sodom, are devastated in chapter 19 of Genesis, there is no mention of Admah or Zeboiim (or Bela). Genesis 10: 19 and Deuteronomy 29: 23 are in error in mistakenly thinking that Lot’s Sodom is (as is indeed the case for princeling Bera’s Sodom) located close to Admah and Zeboiim.

3. At Genesis 14: 2 (and at Genesis 13: 10; 14: 8 as well) there is no mention of “Soar” or “Zoar”, a proper name (meaning “Small [Village]” which, per Genesis 19: 22, 30, requires an interior vav / W / ו: Zoar / ZW‘R / זוער. By contrast, at Genesis 14: 2, 8 and Genesis 19: 23 what we see, rather, is the Hebrew common word zar / Z‘R / זער, with no interior vav. At Genesis 14: 2 that you cite (and at Genesis 14: 8 as well), the word hua / HY’ / היא means that this is an openly-disclosed “gloss”, that was not present in the original text, and rather was added 700 years later by a Jewish editor in Jerusalem.

Please note that it would make no sense whatsoever for a small village (whether Zoar or zar) to be one of five rebellious parties against the mighty Hittite war machine (“Tidal”) at Genesis 14: 2, 8. Not. P-l-e-a-s-e do not accept the substantive content of openly-disclosed “glosses” in the Patriarchal narratives like this. Such “glosses” will lead you astray every time. Rather, we should focus solely on the 99% of the received text that does not consist of openly-disclosed “glosses”.

4. Contra Genesis 10: 19, neither princeling Bera’s Sodom, nor Lot’s Sodom, is located anywhere near Lasha.

5. The bottom line is that if you want accurate information about Sodom and Gomorrah, you need to stick to the last 40 chapters of Genesis. Unlike the Late Bronze Age Patriarchal narratives, the rest of the Bible is clueless as to what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah in Year 13 (Genesis 14: 4 expressly refers to “Year 13”).

Jim Stinehart
Saboi

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

Genesis 14:13 - these were confederate with Abram.

הם בעלי ברית־אברם
αὐτοὶ βουλαί ῥητοί Εὕρημα

This confirms the meaning of בעלי as βουλαί "counsel, of the elders or chiefs, a Senate"
and "בעל־ברית" renders elsewhere.

Judges 9:4 - בית בעל ברית - "threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith"

In this also mentions Abimelech (אבימלך) this same name appears in Genesis 20:2 alongside Abraham
as the King of Gerar.

אבימלך possible equates with εὔαρχος "governing well, one's first customer in the market", so its plausible that Judges 9:4 is describing a bank or treasure house governed by a counsel.

Similar language between Judges 9 and Genesis, Judges 9:6 mentions "the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem" (עם־אלון מצב אשר בשכם) and what is this "Pillar in Shechem", similar too Genesis 19:26 "Pillar of Salt" (נציב מלח), probably a natural formation. נציב means garrison in 1 chronicles 11:16 translated σύστεμα
and homologue of ἐπιστάτα "support, stand, chairman of βουλή and ἐκκλησία, keeper of Treasury".

2 Samuel 8:6, נצבים renders φρουρά "watch-guard, at Sparta, a body of men destined for service"
synonym of φύλακες and associate of πιστός, "in Persia, trusty councillors".

2 Samuel 8:8 - Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, here ברת is translated as ἐκλεκτός "picked out" mentioned once more in Ezekiel 47:16, a place near Damascus & Hamath, the word associated with Cypress trees or κυπάρισσοι or ῥητός and בטח (Betah) is the same word as πιστός "trust" transliterated as Μασβακ.

הדדעזר (Hadadezer, Αδρααζαρ) King of Zobah, In 2 Samuel 23:36, the place name is translated
as δύναμις "forces of war" and צבה is a form of נצב or σαμεῖα "body of troops" or as מצבה/σύστημα
also meaning "body of soldiers, band of partisans, guild or σέβασμα.

The name הדדעזר (Hadadezer, Αδρααζαρ) is very similar too כדרלעמר "Chedorlaomer"
note that the Sept reads הדדעזר as הדרעזר and ה can be a guttural. כדר/הדר. The name
is prefixed "עזר" (Ezra) associate of σωτήρ and σώζω .

הדד, הדר, כדר
- αἰδώς, αἰδεστός "Revere"
- ἀνήρ, ἁνδρός "Man"

עמר, לעמר
1. ἅμιλλα, ἁμιλλάομαι "conflict'
2. ἄμαλλα "bundle of ears of corn, sheaf", ἀμάω "reap corn".
3. ἄγαμος "unmarried, widow

4. Κιμμέριοι "Cimmerian" (Gamir, Gimirri, Gomara, Gyumri)
Defeated by Assyrian forces under Sargon II in 705, They reached the height of their power in 652 after taking Sardis, the capital of Lydia; however an invasion of Assyrian-controlled Anshan was thwarted. Soon after 619, Alyattes of Lydia defeated them. There are no further mentions of them in historical sources, but it is likely that they settled in Cappadocia.)

During the reign of Esarhaddon of Assyria (r. 681–669 BC), they attacked the Assyrian colonies Cilicia and Tabal under their new ruler Teushpa. Esarhaddon defeated them near Hubushna (Hupisna), and they also met defeat at the hands of his successor Ashurbanipal.

A people named Kimmerioi is described in Homer's Odyssey 11.14 (c. late 8th century BC), as living beyond the Oceanus, in a land of fog and darkness, at the edge of the world and the entrance of Hades, According to Herodotus (c. 440 BC), the Cimmerians had been expelled from their homeland between the Tyras (Dniester) and Tanais (Don) rivers by the Scythians

The name Esarhaddon a possible reversal of Hadadezer that often happened in Hebrew, named in
Bible as אסר־חדן (Ασορδαν, Ασαραδδων) the son of Sennacherib (סנחריב, Σενναχηριμ).

I also paralleled Sodom & Gomorrah with Xanthos & Scamander, ס־מד־ר/Σκάμάνδρος, ס־דם/Ξάνθών.

Xanthos & Scamander are also close too Sardis, settled by the Cimmerian, סדם & עמרה could then
stand for ἀστοί σκύθου καἴ Κιμμέριοι, Gaza also means ἄστυ "town" and Sidon means ξανθός and also
near there is Miletus (מלוא?).
Herodotus 1.15
As soon as Gyges came to the throne, he too, like others, led an army into the lands of Miletus and Smyrna; and he took the city of Colophon. But as he did nothing else great in his reign of thirty-eight years, I shall say no more of him, and shall speak instead of Ardys son of Gyges, who succeeded him. He took Priene and invaded the country of Miletus; and it was while he was monarch of Sardis that the Cimmerians, driven from their homes by the nomad Scythians, came into Asia, and took Sardis, all but the acropolis.
These names, "Ardys son of Gyges" (Ἄρδυος δὲ τοῦ Γύγεω) in Herodotus are suspiciously biblical
and Ardys (Ἄρδυος ) similar too הדר (Hadar) and אדר (Adar) and Hadarezer (Αδρααζαρ, הדדעזר) and
an appearance in Gen 36:39.

Gyges (Γύγεω)
- Ezekiel 38:3 Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (גוג/Γωγ)
- Deu 1:4 - Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei (עוג/Ωγ

The name of the Lydian king Γύγης is attested many times in Greek transmission. In addition, the annals of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, refer several times to Gu(g)gu, king of Luddi, to be identified with Gyges, king of the Lydians.

Ashurbanipal is the son of Esarhaddon, seems to be Asnappar (אסנפר , Ασενναφαρ)
and the name is similar too אסנה (Ασενα) and אסנת (Ασεννεθ) (Asenath) in Genesis 41:45. cf. ἀθανᾶ

Gen 41:45
Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

On/אן - Ζῆν, ζᾶνα "Zeus" (Διόσπολις) (Diopolis, Diospolis)

פרעה, פרע
- ἔφορος, φρουρός, τηρός "overseer, watcher"
- φαλακρός "bald-headed"

פוטי
- αἰγυπτία "In Egyptian style" cf.
- πόσις, δεσπότης "Husband, despot"
- πρόσθιος, προκόμιον "forelock"
- ὕπτιοι "back"

צפנת פענח "Zaphnath paaneah"
- δαφνηφάγος "bay-eating, inspired"
- δαφνηφόρος "bearer of bays
- δαφνόκομος "laurel-crowned"
- Ψονθομφανηχ, Ψαμμήτιχος
- ψάμμα, ψάμμος "Sand" ( ἄμμος, ἄμαθος.)

Interesting that the name Psammetichus named Ψαμμήτιχος, his named prefixed Ψαμμή means "Sand".

Genesis 41:49
Joseph gathered corn as the sand (ψάμμον) of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. " ψῆφος ἄμμου" (ψῆφος, ψᾶφος "counting") (Ιωσηφ?) -ψῆφ.

Gen 41:57
- ἀγορανόμος "clerk of the market, who regulated buying and selling
- ἀγόρασμα, ἀγοράσματα, ἀγοράζω " wares, merchandize (מצרים, משביר)
- σιτοβολών, πωλέω, βωλά

Psamtik I
- Encouraged many Greek settlers to establish colonies in Egypt and serve in the Egyptian army. In particular, he settled some Greeks at Tahpanhes (Daphnae).

Necho II
- Necho also formed an Egyptian navy by recruiting displaced Ionian Greeks
7th century statue found in Kale (Tabae) mentioning Psamtik. The Ionian Greek inscription reads, "Amphimeos' son Pedon brought me from Egypt and gave as a votive; Psammetichos, the king of Egypt gave him a city for his virtue and a golden diadem for his virtue."
Herodotus 2:30
In the reign of Psammetichus, there were watchposts at Elephantine facing Ethiopia, at Daphnae of Pelusium facing Arabia and Assyria and at Marea facing Libya

Jeremiah 44:1
The Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph

-Associates-
Psamtik I : 664–610 BCE
Esarhaddon : 681- 669 BCE
Ashurbanipal : 668 – 627 BCE
Gyges : 687 - 652 BCE
Ardys : 652– 603 BCE
Teispes : 675–640 BCE
Cyrus I : 625–600 BCE
Phraortes : 647–625 BCE
James Stinehart

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by James Stinehart »

Saboi:

You wrote: “Genesis 14:13 - these were confederate with Abram. הם בעלי ברית־אברם
αὐτοὶ βουλαί ῥητοί Εὕρημα This confirms the meaning of בעלי as βουλαί "counsel, of the elders or chiefs, a Senate" and "בעל־ברית" renders elsewhere.

Let’s examine the Hebrew word / name baal / B‘L / בעל in the context of chapter 14 of Genesis. That will enable us to figure out who the historical ruler was of princeling Bera’s Sodom. Excitement, excitement!

Although your proposed translation “chiefs” is close, a better translation of B‘LY / בעלי here at Genesis 14: 13 is “princelings” (or “lords”). Similarly, “brother” at Genesis 14: 13 in context means “fellow princeling”.

If the explicit reference to “Year 13” at Genesis 14: 4 is the real Year 13 in the Amarna Age, then we know from the Amarna Letters all of the following: (i) there was only one Amorite princeling in the southern half of Canaan in Year 13, namely Milkilu the Amorite (who, as we shall see, is Biblical Mamre the Amorite), who ruled the Ayalon Valley from Gezer, and (ii) his most prominent characteristic was being aligned with tent-dwelling habiru, Canaanite princelings, and Hurrian princelings.

Here now is my proposed translation of the relevant portion of Genesis 14: 13, which indicates that “Mamre the Amorite” is simply a Patriarchal nickname for historical Milkilu the Amorite:

“Abram the Hebrew…dwelt in Ayalon -- [in the days of] Mamre the Amorite, ‘brother’ of [fellow princeling] Eshcol [a Canaanite], and ‘brother’ of [fellow princeling] Aner [a Hurrian]: and these were princeling [בעלי] confederates with Abram.”

We know that some of the habiru in the Amarna Letters were tent-dwellers who had a lifestyle similar to Hebrew Patriarch Abram in Genesis. We also know that the only Amorite princeling in the southern half of Canaan at the beginning of Year 13 lived in the Ayalon Valley, so it will be important to ask whether the KJV phrase “in the plain of” actually means: “in Ayalon --”.

But let’s first, in this post, analyze the names transliterated by KJV as “Eshkol” and “Aner”. Are those two names redolent of Canaanite and Hurrian princelings in the Amarna Age? Then, in a later post, we can confirm that Biblical Mamre the Amorite = historical Milkilu the Amorite by figuring out that the KJV phrase “in the plain of” actually means: “in Ayalon --” [that is, the defective spelling of “Ayalon”, namely ’LN / אלנ, followed by a ḫireq compaginis; but that’s for a later post].

1. “Eshcol”

“Eshcol” is a Canaanite name. KJV “Eshcol” = ’ŠKL / אשכל. This name is a slight variant of the Hebrew common word ’ŠKWL / אשכול (e.g. at Genesis 40: 10), which means “a cluster (of grapes on the vine)”. As a personal name, “Eshcol” / “Eshkol” is unknown in the rest of the Bible.

With L and R being liquids that often interchange, and with the initial vowel being either E or I, the name “Eshkol” may be a deliberate play on the following west Semitic name from Amarna Letter EA 83: 53: Iškuru. Whereas “Eshkol” refers to a cluster of grapes on the vine, and could imply thanking the divine for grapes to make wine, Iškuru may have the somewhat related meaning of “drunk [with joy due to divine blessings]”.

2. “Aner”

“Aner” is a Hurrian name. KJV “Aner” = ‘NR / ענר / E-na-ar, which is a shortened form of the following attested Hurrian name at the Hurrian province of Nuzi in Late Bronze Age eastern Syria: En-na-ar -ḫi. Gelb and Purves, “Nuzi Personal Names”, p. 46. The Hurrian common word e-na-ar-ḫa means “looking or acting like a god”. (The final syllable, -ḫi or -ḫa, is a standard Hurrian adjectival ending [being a Hurrian ghayin-type heth that literally means "relating to"] that is optional and is dropped in the Biblical version of this Hurrian name.) Compare the meaning of the Hurrian name “Tagi” that is attested in the Amarna Letters as the name of the powerful Hurrian father-in-law of Milkilu the Amorite. “Tagi” literally means “pure”. Richard Hess, “Amarna Personal Names”, p. 154. As such, the likely intended meaning of “Tagi” is: “Pure as a God”. Note that the meaning is fairly similar to the meaning of E-na-ar [KJV “Aner”]: “Acting Like a God”.

3. KJV “brother” vs. “confederate” vs. “king”

We have seen above that if Genesis 14: 4 is referencing the real “Year 13” in the Amarna Age, then in that particular context, at Genesis 14: 13: (i) KJV “brother” means “fellow princeling”, and (ii) KJV “confederate” means “princeling [בעלי] confederates”.

Now consider the word melek / MLK / מלך at Genesis 14: 1-2, with special emphasis on Bera, the ruler of Bera’s Sodom (as opposed to Lot’s Sodom, which is a completely different place). Depending on the context, melek / MLK can either mean “king”, referencing a true royal monarch (such as mighty Hittite King “Tidal”), or melek / MLK can mean a mere “princeling”. The latter is the case with Bera, the princeling ruler of Bera’s Sodom (not Lot’s Sodom), who is a mere “princeling”, not a true “king” / “royal monarch”.

4. Who Is Bera?

Although the last Hebrew letter in KJV “Bera” / BR -ġ / ברע / Bu-ur -ġi looks like an ayin, it’s actually a ghayin / ġ. It represents a Hurrian ghayin-type heth which, in final position, literally means “relating to”. The root of this name is Bu-ur, which is the Hurrianized spelling at Nuzi of the Akkadian word bûru, meaning “young one” and referring to Baal-Hadad.

“Bera” / BR -ġ / Bu-ur -ġi is an Akkadian-based Hurrian name that effectively means “Devoted to Baal-Hadad”. At Nuzi there are two Akkadian-based Hurrian names that begin with Bu-ur-: “bûru ‘Young one’…. Bu-ur-dadad. …Bu-ur-ti-ir-wi. It is important to note that the first such name, Bu-ur-dadad, literally means “Young One -- [the god] Hadad”, and effectively means either “Devoted to Hadad” or “Devoted to Baal-Hadad”. The god Hadad was alternatively known as Baal [B‘L / בעל] or Baal-Hadad; this was the “young” god who in the Late Bronze Age seemed destined (to everyone except the Hebrews) to displace the old father god El someday soon.

Biblical “Bera” / BR -ġ / Bu-ur -ġi, the princeling ruler of Bera’s Sodom, is historical Ittur-Addu, the princeling ruler of Mukishe. The name Ittur-Addu is the Akkadian name of a Hurrian princeling that literally means “Haddu has relented”; thus it effectively has the same meaning as “Bera” / BR -ġ / Bu-ur -ġi: “Devoted to Baal-Hadad”. Bera’s Sodom (not Lot’s Sodom) / Mukishe is located in north-central Syria, along the cultivated fields of the Orontes River Valley / the valley of cultivated fields / KJV: “vale of Siddim”.

* * *

Note that in this particular historical context (Year 13 in the Amarna Age), we have seen that three different Hebrew common words can effectively mean “princeling”, despite the following three different KJV translations: “brother”; “confederate”; “king”.

Saboi, if Genesis 14: 4 is referencing the real “Year 13” in the Amarna Age, then all of the names and words at Genesis 14: 13 make perfect sense -- both in terms of the internal storyline of this magnificent Biblical Hebrew text, and also historically as well. Rather than being mid-1st millennium BCE fiction, as university scholars would have it, the Patriarchal narratives were both composed, and recorded by a scribe in cuneiform, in the mid-14th century BCE, which is why the last 40 chapters of Genesis have astonishing historical accuracy as to a plethora of historical details from Year 13.

Jim Stinehart
Saboi

Re: Sodom and Gomorrah

Post by Saboi »

אמרי (Κιμμέριοι) : Cimmerians, a nomad people of the steppes, who invaded Asia minor.

Genesis 14:14 - Pursued them unto Dan.

דן (Δαν)
- Ζάν "Zeus"
- dānu "River" cf. Dniester (Tyras), Tanais (Don).

Herodotus 4.51
One of the rivers of the Scythians, then, is the Ister (Ἴστρος). The next is the Tyras (Τύρης) which is the boundary between the Scythian and the Neurian ( Νευρίδα) countries; at the mouth of the river there is a settlement of Greeks, who are called Tyritae. (Τυρῖται)

Herodotus 4.11
Cimmerian people buried them by the Tyras river

Neurian (Νευρίδα) is similar too נחור "Nahor" and compare with the geographical phrase עבר נהר and the Hebrew don't use the term "Syria" but ארם that sounds like Ἀρμένιον "Armenia" and Arimaspi (Arimoi ).

Pliny the Elder - Natural History 4. 88
Along the [Black Sea] coast [of Europe], as far as the river Tanais [the Don], are the Maeotae [a Skythian tribe]
... and last of all in the rear of the Maeotae are the Arimaspi (Arimaspians). Then come the Ripaean Mountains

Herodotus 4.100
Scythia is bounded first by the Agathyrsi (Ἀγαθύρσων), next by the Neuri(Νευρῶν), next by the Man-eaters (Ἀνδροφάγων)
and last by the Black-cloaks ( Μελαγχλαίνων.)

Herodotus 2.104
Colchians, Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practised circumcision.

Syrians of the valleys of the Thermodon ( Θερμώδοντα) and the Parthenius ( Παρθένιον), as well as their neighbors the Macrones (Μάκρωνες), say that they learned it lately from the Colchians

Herodotus 3.94 (Tribes of Colchis)
Moschi (Μόσχοισι), Tibareni ( Τιβαρηνοῖσι), Macrones (Μάκρωσι), Mossynoeci ( Μοσσυνοίκοισι), and Mares ( Μαρσὶ)

Ezekiel 38:3
O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

The word מצרימ is similar too Μάκρωνες and note the geographical contradiction in Gen 10:13, none of the
names are Egyptians but Northern, where the adventures of Abraham began.

Genesis 10:13
Mizraim > Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

Mizraim "Macrones"
Ludim "Lydians"
Pathrusim "Pteria" (Cappadocia)
Caphtorim (כפתרים) in Deuteronomy 2:23 translates Καππάδοκες "Cappadocia"
Naphtuhim in Septuagint is Νεφθαλιιμ (νεφελίζω?)
Casluhim appears in Joshua 19:12, cf. φασίολος, φάσηλος
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The names appear related to Grape vines

ענר : ἁνήρ "Man" or οἴνας "Vine"
אשכל : ἀσταφύλη "grape-cluster"
ממרא : πικρόκαρπος "bearing-bitter fruits" cf. πικρός/ממר "bitter" or μείρομαι, μορία "Sacred Olives"
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