Sodom: Etymologies and Location

For discussions which focus upon specific words, their origin, meaning, relationship to other ANE languages.
Forum rules
Members will observe the rules for respectful discourse at all times!
Please sign all posts with your first and last (family) name.
Jim Stinehart
Posts: 352
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 11:33 am

Re: Sodom: Etymologies and Location

Post by Jim Stinehart »

I see the divine fire and brimstone that is portrayed as destroying Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah as being based on the following natural phenomenon: the world’s worst sirocco/east wind [šadûm] blowing heat and sand particles into Canaan from the desert. Here are some additional testimonials concerning this sirocco/east wind, which is the worst wind in western Asia and Egypt.

1. “More important, however, is the occasional sirocco or hot "east wind," which blows in[to Palestine] from the eastern desert[, b]ecause of its excessive dryness, heat, and violence….” "The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible, Revised Edition", Westminster Press, Philadelphia (1956), p. 17.

2. “After luncheon, we remounted, and began to traverse the great hot plain in a bad sirocco wind. The fierce heat had a very disenchanting effect…. Jezreel we came to at last….” E.P. Seeley, "In the Light", Seeley and Co., London (1884), p. 176.

3. “[T]he wind from the southeast, the terrible sirocco, is like the blast from a furnace and is deadly to vegetation.” Rufus Learsi, Samson Benderly, "Outline of Jewish Knowledge, Vol. I", Bureau of Jewish Education, New York (1929), p. 192.

4. “The view [of the Jezreel Valley] from [mount] Tabor is very extensive and beautiful…. The Sirocco of the afternoon thickened the air and for a time dimmed the prospect…. [T]he [Jezreel] valley from the west spreads itself out to a wide plain[*] as it enters that of the Jordan [River Valley]….” E. Robinson and E. Smith, "Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838, Vol. II", Crocker and Brewster, Boston (1860), p. 354.

*This “wide plain” at the place where the Jezreel Valley adjoins the Jordan River Valley is, in my opinion, the kikkar : ככר of the Jordan that is referenced at Genesis 13: 11-12; 19: 25. The Hebrew word kikkar means something that is “flat”, such as a “plain”, more particularly being the wide "flat" bed of a river valley. E.A. Speiser, "The Anchor Bible Genesis" (1962), pp. 96-97. Note that the Biblical phrase “kikkar of the Jordan” does not mandate a locale near the Dead Sea -- I Kings 7: 46 refers to a “kikkar of the Jordan” near Succoth. But the widest plain (“flat” place/kikkar) that adjoins, and/or is in, the Jordan River Valley is the plain from Shunem to Beth Shean in the Jezreel Valley. For reasons I will set forth in subsequent posts on this thread, I see Lot’s Sadum/Sodom as being Shunem in the Jezreel Valley, west of Beth Shean, east of Tell ‘Amr/Tell Gomorrah. A devastating sirocco/east wind would hit first Lot’s Sadum/Sodom, and then Gomorrah, per Genesis 19: 24.

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

Re: Sodom: Etymologies and Location

Post by Jim Stinehart »

As noted in my prior post, I see the divine fire and brimstone that is portrayed as divinely devastating Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah as being based on the natural phenomenon of a brutal sirocco/east wind [šadûm] blowing heat and sand particles into Canaan from the desert.

Consider now that when YHWH uses wind for good purposes at Exodus 10: 19, the Hebrew verb that is used is יהפך, a word often translated by KJV as “turned” or “overthrew”:

“And the LORD turned [יהפך] a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.”

Now let’s ask what Hebrew verb is used when YHWH devastates Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah:

“And he overthrew [יהפך] those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” Genesis 19: 25

It’s the identical form of the identical verb.

At Genesis 19: 25, YHWH uses [יהפך] a sirocco/east wind [šadûm] to rain down destruction (with fire and brimstone) on Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah. Similarly, at Exodus 10: 19, YHWH uses [יהפך] a benign west wind to blow all the locusts out of Egypt.

At Genesis 19: 25 and Exodus 10: 19, יהפך seems to mean: “he used a very strong wind that overturns everything in its path”.

Thus if we focus on the Hebrew verb הפך, in the form of יהפך, we can see that the natural phenomenon on which the divine devastation of Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah is based is a tremendous sirocco/east wind [šadûm], which blew [יהפך] a great amount of heat/fire and sand particles/brimstone into Canaan from the desert.

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

Re: Sodom: Etymologies and Location

Post by Isaac Fried »

The wind name sirocco is apparently from the Arabic שרק $ARQ, 'east'. It is related to the Hebrew שׁרק $RQ, 'whistle', זרק ZRQ, 'throw, hurl, cast', ירק YRQ, 'spit, sprout', זרח ZRX, 'shine, glint', ירח YAREAX, 'moon', סרח SRX, 'spread out', and many more.

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

Re: Sodom: Etymologies and Location

Post by Jim Stinehart »

The usual assumption as to the effect of the divine fire and brimstone on Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah does not necessarily track what Genesis says. Rather, it is Deuteronomy 29: 23 that asserts the permanent destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim:

“And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath”.

If, instead of relying on what is said in Deuteronomy, one focuses on what Genesis 19: 23-25, 28-29 say, it is not clear that Lot’s Sadum/Sodom and Gomorrah are portrayed as being permanently destroyed, as opposed to being merely temporarily devastated by fire and brimstone, as if by a terrible sirocco/east wind.

Here are the two key verbs in this regard:

1. הפך

As discussed in my prior post, Genesis 19: 25 says: “And he overthrew [הפך] those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” At Genesis 19: 25 and Exodus 10: 19, הפך seems to mean: “he used a very strong wind that overturns everything in its path”. The verb הפך (i) is fully compatible with Lot’s Sadum/Sodom being devastated by a sirocco/east wind, and (ii) does not mandate, or even suggest, the permanent destruction of Lot’s Sadum/Sodom.

2. שחת

The second key verb is שחת. Genesis 19: 28 says: “And it came to pass, when God destroyed [שחת] the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.”

Although שחת can be translated as “destroy”, when applied to a city it probably means to “lay waste” to a city. That would ordinarily mean that the city has been only temporarily devastated, not permanently destroyed. Note also that Genesis 19: 28 itself on two subsequent occasions uses the verb הפך, which means to use a very strong wind that overturns everything in its path, and would not ordinarily imply the permanent destruction of a city.

In this regard, note for example Joshua 22: 23: “And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy [שחת] the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.” The destruction of the land would not have been permanent. Rather, the verb שחת means that the land would have been laid waste. Yes, the land would have been devastated, but only on a temporary basis, rather than being permanently destroyed.

* * *

I myself do not see the Patriarchal narratives as portraying Lot’s Sadum/Sodom as being permanently destroyed. Rather, that view is coming from Deuteronomy 29: 23. If Deuteronomy was composed many centuries after the truly ancient Patriarchal narratives (my view), then we should not rely on Deuteronomy to interpret the Patriarchal narratives. Lot’s Sadum/Sodom was devastated as if by a terrible sirocco/east wind, rather than being permanently destroyed.

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

Re: Sodom: Etymologies and Location

Post by Jim Stinehart »

Let’s now try to figure out where Lot’s Sadum/Sodom/סדם is located.

1. First, let’s agree to give zero weight to the following two phrases that are generally considered by scholars to be later-added editorial additions or glosses, since glosses are inherently unreliable as to what the original text meant: (i) “which [הוא] is the salt sea” at Genesis 14: 3; and (ii) the references in the last two verses of chapter 19 of Genesis to Moab and Ammon “unto this day”. If we take that approach (which seems eminently reasonable), then we suddenly realize that there is nothing whatsoever in the rest of the Patriarchal narratives that says, suggests or implies that Lot’s Sadum/Sodom, or the Gomorrah that is fairly near Lot’s Sadum/Sodom, were located anywhere in the general vicinity of the Dead Sea.

2. Now consider the discussion in an earlier post of mine on this thread of the phrase “the plain of Jordan” at Genesis 13: 11, which is where Lot’s Sadum/Sodom is located. The wide plain at the place where the Jezreel Valley adjoins the Jordan River Valley is, in my opinion, the kikkar : ככר of the Jordan that is referenced at Genesis 13: 11-12; 19: 25. The Hebrew word kikkar means something that is “flat”, such as a “plain”, more particularly being the wide “flat” bed of a river valley. E.A. Speiser, The Anchor Bible Genesis (1962), pp. 96-97. (As I noted previously, the Biblical phrase “kikkar of the Jordan” does not mandate a locale near the Dead Sea, as I Kings 7: 46 refers to a “kikkar of the Jordan” near Succoth.) The widest plain (“flat” place/kikkar/ככר) that adjoins, and/or is in, the Jordan River Valley is the plain from Shunem to Beth Shean in the Jezreel Valley. For reasons we will now explore, I see Lot’s Sadum/Sodom as being Shunem in the Jezreel Valley, west of Beth Shean, east of Tell ‘Amr/Tell Gomorrah.

A devastating sirocco/east wind/šadûm would hit first Lot’s Sadum/Sodom (just west of Beth Shean), and then, moving further west, Gomorrah, just as stated at Genesis 19: 24. One of the places in Canaan that is susceptible to a sirocco/east wind is Shunem (the likely location of Lot’s Sadum/Sodom) in the Jezreel Valley. A 19th century traveler just north of Shunem reported: “[W]e soon left Shunem…. About an hour’s further ride [five miles north of Shunem] brought us to Endor…. Here we spent some hours, encamped above the town, over which the sirocco was blowing upon us with its overpowering breath….” Friends’ Review, Volume XXII (1869), p. 817.

3. Based on etymology, the most obvious meaning of Sadum/Sodom/סדם is “good fields place”, where Sadum/Sodom/סדם sounds like śadim [“cultivated fields” : “Siddim”]. (We can be certain that this Hebrew word is very old, because in its singular form, (i) šadê is a west Semitic gloss at Amarna Letter EA 287: 56 from Jerusalem [where in Amarna Canaanite the sibilant is a shin/š, not a sin/ś as in Hebrew], (ii) it is attested as a Ugaritic common word as šdy, and (iii) it is the root of the name ša-di-ya at Amarna Letter EA 187: 3.) In fact, it is eminently logical that Lot would choose the very finest “good fields place” in Canaan to live a soft city life. That would be at Shunem in the lush Jezreel Valley, which is the breadbasket of Canaan.

In moving south through northern Canaan on their way to Bethel, Lot and his uncle Abram had traversed the Jezreel Valley (see Genesis 12: 6-8, which references Shechem to the north of the Jezreel Valley, and Bethel to the south). Thus Lot knew that soft city life was readily available there in the Jezreel Valley for a man of means. As to why Lot would pick Shunem in particular, Shunem is the quintessential “good fields place” in all of Canaan, being the place where Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten himself maintained a private agricultural estate, per Amarna Letter EA 365. Moreover, we know from that Amarna Letter that the nobles of Shunem refused to take care of Akhenaten’s private estate there, which is our first indication as to why the people of Shunem : Lot’s Sadum/Sodom may have been considered “evil”.

On the linguistic front, note that all of Shunem vs. Šunama vs. Solem vs. Sodom bear a rough resemblance, in that each is a 3-consonant name that starts with a sibilant and ends with M.

4. The Gomorrah that was fairly near Lot’s Sodom may well be Tel el-‘Amr : Tel Gomorrah, which is located west of Shunem (in the general vicinity of Megiddo). Tel el-‘Amr : Tel Gomorrah may have been the home base of Hurrian princeling Tagi in the Amarna Letters, who seems to have been in cahoots with both Labaya of Shechem and the people of Shunem when, in Year 13, a rebellion broke out in central Canaan and the small Egyptian garrison city of Beth Shean (east of Shunem/Lot’s Sodom) was burned to the ground. “We have shown that Level IX [of Beth Shean] was destroyed by a great fire during the mid-14th century BCE, towards the end of the Amarna Period….” Amihai Mazar, “The Egyptian Garrison Town at Beth-Shean”, in “Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism, Ideology and Literature: Proceedings of a Conference at the University of Haifa, 3-7 May 2009” (2011), p. 156.

5. In trying to show empathy with pharaoh Akhenaten’s many problems (so that Akhenaten might help out the first Hebrews in the Ayalon Valley), the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives portrayed Shunem/Lot’s Sodom and the Gomorrah west of there as being evil, and as rightly [though only rhetorically, not historically] being devastated by divine fire and brimstone, on the theory that Shunem and Tagi’s Gomorrah were involved in a rebellion that saw the Egyptian garrison at Beth Shean burned to the ground. In the Biblical story, the people of Lot’s Sodom/Shunem think that pharaoh Akhenaten has sent two messengers to Sodom to find out if the people of Sodom are bound and determined to continue their rebellion against pharaoh. The people of Sodom want to treat these two Egyptian messengers very rudely, and want to literally kick them out of town, to show the great displeasure of the people of Sodom pursuant to the fact that, per Amarna Letter EA 365, Akhenaten had confiscated a large amount of the finest agricultural land near Shunem to be his own private estate, and now expected the people of Shunem to work that land for him for free, using corvée labor. From the standpoint of the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives who wanted to show empathy with pharaoh Akhenaten’s problems in Canaan (with the hope that pharaoh might then help out the first Hebrews in dealing in Year 13 with the “iniquity of the Amorite” Yapaḫu), it made sense to portray the people of Shunem : Lot’s Sadum/Sodom as being “evil”, and as such as properly getting a divine comeuppance.

6. When Lot decides which part of Canaan to choose upon separating from Abram at Bethel at Genesis 13: 6-12, Lot logically chose the northern two-thirds of Canaan in general, and the lush Jezreel Valley in particular. Lot in the first instance proceeded directly east of Bethel (Genesis 13: 11) to the Jordan River, in order to claim the entire Greater Jordan River Valley (an integral part of which is the Jezreel Valley), that is, all of Canaan north of Bethel.

The conventional view that Lot went south to the Dead Sea does not make good sense:

(i) Lot would not leave Canaan proper to go to a place where Lot had never been before.

(ii) Lot well knew that upon selling his large flock of sheep and goats, Lot could live the soft city life in the lush Jezreel Valley in northern Canaan. Indeed, as noted above, we should expect that Lot would choose the very best “good fields place” in all of Canaan, which is Shunem in the Jezreel Valley.

(iii) The Dead Sea area is so arid that (as both the Hebrew author and his entire audience well knew) a soft city life is not possible in that locale.

(iv) It hardly seems credible that a Hebrew or Jewish author, in a text devoted to the Promised Land of Canaan concept, would falsely portray the territory just southeast of Canaan at the Dead Sea as supposedly being far more attractive to Lot than any locale in Canaan itself. Moreover, on that conventional view, it would then be irrelevant regarding the divine promise to Abraham of all of Canaan that Lot is dramatically dispossessed of Sodom in chapter 19 of Genesis. By sharp contrast, that is a key moment in the Patriarchal narratives on my view that Lot’s Sodom is located in Canaan proper. In fact, on my view, immediately upon the divine devastation of Lot’s Sodom in the Jezreel Valley in north-central Canaan in chapter 19 of Genesis, then even before the dust has literally settled, Abraham is off like a shot at Genesis 20: 1 to perfect his claim to all of Canaan by promptly leaving southern Canaan and going to Tyre (“Shur”) in northernmost Galilee (“Gerar”).

(v) Finally, Lot felt entitled to a double share of Canaan (the northern two-thirds of Canaan), since Lot represented the senior branch of the family of Abram’s father Terakh. Terakh’s firstborn son Haran had already died, so Lot as Haran’s only son had now stepped into the shoes of Terakh’s firstborn son (Abram’s oldest brother Haran). Accordingly, Abram (Terakh’s youngest son) was properly, from Lot’s point of view, relegated to the southern one-third of Canaan. Abram for his part did not much care what provisional division of Canaan Lot chose, because (unbeknownst to Lot) YHWH had already promised Abram that in due course, all of Canaan would be inherited by Abram and Abram’s select line of descendants (Genesis 12: 7).

* * *

Thus if we apply logic to this situation, and give full credence to what the text says (while giving zero weight, however, to those phrases that scholars generally consider to be later-added glosses), the conclusion is clear. Lot’s Sadum/Sodom/סדם is located at Shunem, the quintessential “good fields place” [śadim] in Canaan, in the lush Jezreel Valley in north-central Canaan. That’s where a place (Shunem) with fine “cultivated fields” [śadim] was divinely “smited” [sadum], as if by the sirocco/“east wind” [šadûm] from the desert when, per Genesis 19: 23-25, the sun rose in the “east” [šadûm]. That is to say, śadim + sadum + šadum = Sadum : Lot’s “Sodom” : סדם.

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

Re: Sodom: Etymologies and Location

Post by Jim Stinehart »

Correction

In my prior post, I mistakenly wrote the following: “In moving south through northern Canaan on their way to Bethel, Lot and his uncle Abram had traversed the Jezreel Valley (see Genesis 12: 6-8, which references Shechem to the north of the Jezreel Valley, and Bethel to the south).”

Shechem in fact is south of the Jezreel Valley. What I should have said is as follows:

In moving south through northern Canaan past Shechem in central Canaan on their way to Bethel in southern Canaan, Lot and his uncle Abram had traversed the Jezreel Valley (before coming to Shechem, south of the Jezreel Valley, when at Genesis 12: 6 “Abram passed [south] through the land [of Canaan] unto the place of Sichem [Shechem]”).

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
Post Reply