More on the name אברם ABRAM

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Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

More on the name אברם ABRAM

Post by Isaac Fried »

In Gen. 17:4 and 17:15 we read about the dramatic name changes of ABRAM and SARAY, effected by the addition to the two names of the letter ה H, apparently a concise יה YA, so common in latter names.

Common wisdom, possibly a mere cute דרוש drush, sees the name ABRAM as the combination of אב-רם AB-RAM, 'exalted father'. I think of other, more intricate, and theophorically imbued, possibilities.

Both names, of his grandfather נחור NAXOR and of his father תרח TERAX, contain in them the letter ר R, possibly for אור OR, 'light, fire', which they revered. Thus: NAXOR = N-AX-OR, TERAX = TE-OR-AX, ABRAM = AB-OR-EM, or נחור = נ-אח-אור, תרח = את-אור-אח, אברם = אב-אור-אם

Few years elapsed until the reemergence of another R in the name ישראל ISRAEL.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Jim Stinehart
Posts: 352
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 11:33 am

Re: More on the name אברם ABRAM

Post by Jim Stinehart »

Isaac Fried:

You wrote: “In Gen. 17:4 and 17:15 we read about the dramatic name changes of ABRAM and SARAY, effected by the addition to the two names of the letter ה H….”

If the letter resh/R is a theophoric in the divinely-changed name “Abraham”, then it would be obvious that ’B -R- HM means e-x-a-c-t-l-y what Genesis 17: 5 says it means.

Note that the resh/R at the end of the Egyptian name “Potiphar” at Genesis 37: 36 is a theophoric.

Consider also that the Egyptians could not distinguish Hebrew resh/R from Hebrew lamed/L by sound. So what sounded like “El”, a perfectly good Hebrew name for the divine, would have as its sole consonant a resh/R in an Egyptian rendering of such west Semitic name.

Moreover, even within Hebrew itself resh/R and lamed/L occasionally interchange. For example, I see GRR as being an early, archaic version of GLYL: “Gariree” in the Bronze Age gave way to “Galilee” in the Iron Age.

Since the Egyptian version of “El”, featuring lamed/L, would feature resh/R as its sole consonant, could the resh/R in the middle of ’B -R- HM be an Egyptian version of “El”? That is, the Hebrews could see that theophoric -R- as being [the Egyptian version of] “El”, which as so viewed would be non-blasphemous for the Hebrews, whereas the Egyptians themselves would doubtless view that same theophoric -R- as being their sun-god Ra.

I realize that everyone on the b-hebrew list considers such notion to be way too blasphemous to be considered. But if the Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives was trying to get Pharaoh to prevent the first Hebrews from being run off the land where the Hebrews were sojourning (my view of the case), then in those desperate circumstances, that early Hebrew author might be willing to use the resh/R at the end of “Potiphar” to function as a theophoric in the name “Abraham” [which is still a fully west Semitic name, with the resh/R being viewed as a special “Egyptian” way, under the circumstances, of rendering “El”]. It’s actually not nearly as blasphemous as it initially appears, since the Hebrew author was not changing his own people’s religious views one whit. Rather, he was just making a symbolic rhetorical gesture to Pharaoh, with the hope that the early monotheistic leader of Egypt might then see his way clear to helping out the early monotheistic tent-dwellers in Canaan.

The early Hebrew author is in effect saying to Pharaoh: “Each of our peoples worships one God, and you Egyptians cannot even distinguish the west Semitic pronunciation of the one consonant in each people’s name for the divine: resh/R vs. lamed/L. So under the circumstances consider the resh/R in the divinely-changed name “Abraham” to be a theophoric: “El” with a lamed/L for us, and “Ra” with a resh/R for you, since those two west Semitic consonants sound the same to you anyway. Now p-l-e-a-s-e , remove evil princeling ruler Yapaxu from our beloved valley in southern Canaan forthwith.”

I am well aware that the Hebrews never worshipped a sun-god, and I fully agree that the Hebrews would never change their religious views to curry favor with Pharaoh. But still, in desperate circumstances, the first Hebrews might be willing to make a purely rhetorical gesture like that, if it might make the difference in swinging Pharaoh to their side.

It’s just so darn obvious that if the resh/R in the name ’B -R- HM is a theophoric, then such divinely-changed name means e-x-a-c-t-l-y what Genesis 17: 5 says it means.

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

Re: More on the name אברם ABRAM

Post by Isaac Fried »

The letter ר R for ער ER or אור OR did not have much of a success with ancient Hebrew names, but ל L for אל EL, and ש $ for אש E$ or איש YI$ fared much better. Here: ישמעאל (I suspect the ע a devious scribal insertion) = איש-מ-אל IY$-MA-EL. שאול = איש-הוא-אל $AUL = IYS-HU-EL. שמואל = איש-מ-הוא-אל $MUEL = IY$-M-HU-EL. Thus, שמואל $MUEL and ישמעאל IY$MAEL are close.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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