Defective Spelling: Key to Historicity

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Jim Stinehart
Posts: 352
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 11:33 am

Re: Defective Spelling: Key to Historicity

Post by Jim Stinehart »

“Luz”

Many geographical place names in the Patriarchal narratives that are considered inscrutable/fictional in fact make perfect sense on all levels, but only if one is willing to consider that Hebrew defective spelling applies to these names.

Consider for example the geographical place name at item #31 on the Thutmose III list. If in both the Egyptian and Hebrew renderings the w/ו in question is treated as a consonant, then subject to a routine slight confusion of sibilants as to the last consonant, la-wi-śa at item #31 on the Tuthmose III list corresponds (implying the same vowels) to la-wi-za at Genesis 28: 19: לוז (vs. the KJV mistransliteration of this name as “Luz”).

The accepted scholarly “explanation” of לוז is that (i) it embodies plene spelling [No it doesn’t; it’s defective spelling all the way]; (ii) it’s Lu-za or Luz [No, it’s la-wi-za, per defective spelling, with 3 Hebrew letters in defective spelling meaning that there are 3 syllables]; and, perhaps most irritatingly of all, (iii) it’s supposedly a fictional former name of Joshua’s [modern] Bethel, with this Biblical author [who allegedly didn’t know about Abram’s earlier world-famous encounter with YHWH at Bethel] falsely claiming that Jacob was the one who gave Bethel its name, which the Canaanites then immediately adopted. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

All that is needed on the linguistic front to understand the otherwise mysterious geographical place name לוז in the Patriarchal narratives is to consider Hebrew defective spelling, as opposed to the alleged Hebrew plene spelling that, unfortunately, has always been presupposed. Meanwhile, on the textual front, Jacob’s לוז : la-wi-za, which Jacob calls “Bethel” : “House of God” because Jacob encountered YHWH there in the famous Jacob’s Ladder scene, is a completely different place, geographically, than either the historical Bethel that is located between Shechem and Jerusalem [Joshua’s Bethel; modern Bethel], or the mountainous area nearby with an excellent view of Canaan that Abram calls “Bethel” : “House of God” because Abram encountered YHWH there [in the famous scene in chapter 13 of Genesis where Abram and his nephew Lot decide to go their separate ways, instead of continuing to sojourn together]. Just as there are two completely different places called “Sodom” in the Patriarchal narratives [one in central Syria where “Bera” rules, and one between the Jezreel Valley and the Jordan River in Canaan where “Melchizedek” operates], so also are there two completely different places called “Bethel” in the Patriarchal narratives. The non-biblical historical name of the site where Jacob’s Ladder scene is set is la-wi-śa : לוז : la-wi-za, per item #31 on the Tuthmose III list, once לוז is analyzed on the basis of Hebrew defective spelling.

Instead of being late and fictional, as university scholars allege, the Patriarchal narratives in fact are truly ancient, and have pinpoint historical accuracy in a Late Bronze Age context. But that can only be seen if one is willing to apply Hebrew d-e-f-e-c-t-i-v-e spelling to each and every name in the Patriarchal narratives.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: Defective Spelling: Key to Historicity

Post by Isaac Fried »

I would not discount the possibility that the L in לוז LUZ is also for EL; LUZ = EL-HU-AZ.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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