The King's Highway and Genesis 37
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:11 pm
The King’s Highway and Genesis 37
In this thread, I will present my view that the traders who take Joseph to slavery in Egypt in chapter 37 of Genesis had, prior to buying Joseph in Canaan near Dothan (not too far from Beth Shan, which is immediately west of Gilead/the central Transjordan), used the King’s Highway to go to and from northern Arabia, where they had bought the world’s finest incense (to be taken to Egypt for lucrative sale). In this first post, however, I will focus almost exclusively on a linguistic analysis of the Biblical name of the traders that is conventionally (though inaccurately) transliterated as “Midianites”. Then in a later post I will highlight the historical use of the King’s Highway by certain traders in the Late Bronze Age, whom I view as being the persons who are portrayed at Genesis 37 as taking Joseph into slavery in Egypt.
* * *
Why are Ishmaelites alternatively referred to as “Midianites” at Genesis 37: 28, 36?
[The majority view of scholars (to which I subscribe) is that the Ishmaelites are not dealing with a separate people called “Midianites”. One mainstream view of scholars (though perhaps a minority view, but it is my view) is that a single author referred to these people alternatively as Ishmaelites and “Midianites”; rather than there being two original authors, one of whom told a story about Ishmaelites, and the other of whom told a story about “Midianites”, which a later editor clumsily put together.]
As scholars well know, the name “Midian”, as the name of a country or region, is not attested outside of the Bible until the Common Era. Thus despite their conventional English transliterations (per KJV), it is essentially impossible for the references at Genesis 37: 28, 36 to be referring to “Midianites” from Midian. (As discussed below, these two Biblical references have different spellings. In this post, I will focus on the shorter spelling.)
The scholarly view of this matter, strangely enough, posits that the “Midianites” at Genesis 37: 28, 36 are descendants of Keturah’s son “Midian” (see e.g. Genesis 25: 4). Yet why oh why would Ishmaelites, as descendants of Ishmael, be conflated or confused with descendants of Keturah’s son “Midian”? That scholarly view does not seem to make good sense.
* * *
As the starting point for solving this 3,000-year-old Biblical mystery, I will focus in this post on the name of the son of Keturah that has a shorter spelling (than the name of one of his brothers), conventionally transliterated (per KJV) as “Medan” (see Genesis 25: 2, being the personal name that precedes the longer personal name “Midian”). The Hebrew spelling is מדן. Is such a name attested non-biblically in the ancient world?
The personal name mdn appears once at Ugarit. The personal name mtn appears frequently at Ugarit. In both cases, scholars say that the etymology is uncertain. Note that two different common words spelled mtn at Ugarit have cognates that are spelled with a D, rather than with a T. Thus mdn and mtn may well be but two different spellings of the same Ugaritic name. Finally, Ugarit has the following gentilic name: mtny.
Recall now that in the Amarna Letters, the most frequent spelling of the name of the Hurrian great power state in eastern Syria (usually spelled in English, somewhat inaccurately, as “Mitanni”) is: mi-ta-ni. With D and T frequently interchanging in going from one ancient language to another, and with the country name “Mitanni” perhaps being more accurately transliterated as “Midtani” [due to an ambiguity in the cuneiform spelling of this country name], it is likely that:
1. The personal name mdn at Ugarit refers to Midtanni, presumably being the name of a Hurrian who originated from there (which is why such name has no known west Semitic etymology). [Although Ugarit was a Late Bronze Age west Semitic-speaking Amorite state, it had a large minority of Hurrian residents.]
2. The personal name mtn at Ugarit is the same name as mdn, merely having a slightly different spelling, and likewise refers to Midtanni, once again presumably being the name of a Hurrian who originated from there.
3. The gentilic name mtny at Ugarit means “Midtannian”.
Now consider what may well be the Biblical Hebrew equivalents of these Ugaritic names at Genesis 25:2 and 37: 36. (In this post, I am ignoring what may be longer versions of these same names at Genesis 25: 4 and 37: 28.)
(a) מדן, which is usually (though inaccurately) rendered in English as “Medan”, is likely identical to the personal names mdn and mtn at Ugarit. Both in Biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic, this personal name may well mean: “Midtanni”.
(b) מדנים, which is usually (though inaccurately) rendered in English as “Midianite”, is likely identical to the gentilic name mtny at Ugarit. Both in Biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic, this gentilic name may well mean: “Midtannian”.
Pursuant to the foregoing analysis, the מדנים at Genesis 37: 36 are west Semitic-speaking (“Ishmaelites”) residents of the Hurrian great power state of Midtani (“Mitannians”) in Late Bronze Age eastern Syria. Genesis 25: 18 tells us that some of Ishmael’s descendants settled as far east as Assyria, which is just east of Midtanni, so Ishmaelites could easily be residents of Midtanni in eastern Syria; that is to say, Ishmaelites could be Midtannians : mtny : מדנים.
But the key question here, rather, is how could Midtannians, near Beth Shan and Gilead (the latter of which is in the central Transjordan) at Dothan on their way to Egypt from eastern Syria in Genesis 37, have fine incense, which they would sell in Egypt? The answer: the King’s Highway! As we will see, that precise phenomenon, though seeming to us today to be, at first glance, extremely odd geographically, is well-attested in the mid-14th century and the 13th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
In this thread, I will present my view that the traders who take Joseph to slavery in Egypt in chapter 37 of Genesis had, prior to buying Joseph in Canaan near Dothan (not too far from Beth Shan, which is immediately west of Gilead/the central Transjordan), used the King’s Highway to go to and from northern Arabia, where they had bought the world’s finest incense (to be taken to Egypt for lucrative sale). In this first post, however, I will focus almost exclusively on a linguistic analysis of the Biblical name of the traders that is conventionally (though inaccurately) transliterated as “Midianites”. Then in a later post I will highlight the historical use of the King’s Highway by certain traders in the Late Bronze Age, whom I view as being the persons who are portrayed at Genesis 37 as taking Joseph into slavery in Egypt.
* * *
Why are Ishmaelites alternatively referred to as “Midianites” at Genesis 37: 28, 36?
[The majority view of scholars (to which I subscribe) is that the Ishmaelites are not dealing with a separate people called “Midianites”. One mainstream view of scholars (though perhaps a minority view, but it is my view) is that a single author referred to these people alternatively as Ishmaelites and “Midianites”; rather than there being two original authors, one of whom told a story about Ishmaelites, and the other of whom told a story about “Midianites”, which a later editor clumsily put together.]
As scholars well know, the name “Midian”, as the name of a country or region, is not attested outside of the Bible until the Common Era. Thus despite their conventional English transliterations (per KJV), it is essentially impossible for the references at Genesis 37: 28, 36 to be referring to “Midianites” from Midian. (As discussed below, these two Biblical references have different spellings. In this post, I will focus on the shorter spelling.)
The scholarly view of this matter, strangely enough, posits that the “Midianites” at Genesis 37: 28, 36 are descendants of Keturah’s son “Midian” (see e.g. Genesis 25: 4). Yet why oh why would Ishmaelites, as descendants of Ishmael, be conflated or confused with descendants of Keturah’s son “Midian”? That scholarly view does not seem to make good sense.
* * *
As the starting point for solving this 3,000-year-old Biblical mystery, I will focus in this post on the name of the son of Keturah that has a shorter spelling (than the name of one of his brothers), conventionally transliterated (per KJV) as “Medan” (see Genesis 25: 2, being the personal name that precedes the longer personal name “Midian”). The Hebrew spelling is מדן. Is such a name attested non-biblically in the ancient world?
The personal name mdn appears once at Ugarit. The personal name mtn appears frequently at Ugarit. In both cases, scholars say that the etymology is uncertain. Note that two different common words spelled mtn at Ugarit have cognates that are spelled with a D, rather than with a T. Thus mdn and mtn may well be but two different spellings of the same Ugaritic name. Finally, Ugarit has the following gentilic name: mtny.
Recall now that in the Amarna Letters, the most frequent spelling of the name of the Hurrian great power state in eastern Syria (usually spelled in English, somewhat inaccurately, as “Mitanni”) is: mi-ta-ni. With D and T frequently interchanging in going from one ancient language to another, and with the country name “Mitanni” perhaps being more accurately transliterated as “Midtani” [due to an ambiguity in the cuneiform spelling of this country name], it is likely that:
1. The personal name mdn at Ugarit refers to Midtanni, presumably being the name of a Hurrian who originated from there (which is why such name has no known west Semitic etymology). [Although Ugarit was a Late Bronze Age west Semitic-speaking Amorite state, it had a large minority of Hurrian residents.]
2. The personal name mtn at Ugarit is the same name as mdn, merely having a slightly different spelling, and likewise refers to Midtanni, once again presumably being the name of a Hurrian who originated from there.
3. The gentilic name mtny at Ugarit means “Midtannian”.
Now consider what may well be the Biblical Hebrew equivalents of these Ugaritic names at Genesis 25:2 and 37: 36. (In this post, I am ignoring what may be longer versions of these same names at Genesis 25: 4 and 37: 28.)
(a) מדן, which is usually (though inaccurately) rendered in English as “Medan”, is likely identical to the personal names mdn and mtn at Ugarit. Both in Biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic, this personal name may well mean: “Midtanni”.
(b) מדנים, which is usually (though inaccurately) rendered in English as “Midianite”, is likely identical to the gentilic name mtny at Ugarit. Both in Biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic, this gentilic name may well mean: “Midtannian”.
Pursuant to the foregoing analysis, the מדנים at Genesis 37: 36 are west Semitic-speaking (“Ishmaelites”) residents of the Hurrian great power state of Midtani (“Mitannians”) in Late Bronze Age eastern Syria. Genesis 25: 18 tells us that some of Ishmael’s descendants settled as far east as Assyria, which is just east of Midtanni, so Ishmaelites could easily be residents of Midtanni in eastern Syria; that is to say, Ishmaelites could be Midtannians : mtny : מדנים.
But the key question here, rather, is how could Midtannians, near Beth Shan and Gilead (the latter of which is in the central Transjordan) at Dothan on their way to Egypt from eastern Syria in Genesis 37, have fine incense, which they would sell in Egypt? The answer: the King’s Highway! As we will see, that precise phenomenon, though seeming to us today to be, at first glance, extremely odd geographically, is well-attested in the mid-14th century and the 13th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois