[b-hebrew] Baal-Hermon

Yigal Levin leviny1 at mail.biu.ac.il
Sun Sep 7 00:54:48 EDT 2008


I'll re-state the problem. While (Mount) Hermon is well-known and appears quite a few times in the Bible, the specific form "Baal-Hermon" appears in ONLY two sources, and both are problematic: 
The first is in the boundary description of Judges 3:3: instead of Joshua's "Baal-Gad under Mount Hermon", Judges has "Baal-Hermon". Were this the ONLY source, there would be little doubt that this is a "ghost name" created by Judges' abbreviation of Josh. 13:5

However, there's 1 Chr. 5. The geographical context is close enough to make it unlikely that this is a different place with the same name (unless there's another Hermon as well...). Where did Chr.'s description come from? If it is taken from a source that is ultimately independent of Judges 3:3, that would be evidence of "Baal-Hermon" being a real place, which would force a re-asessment of the realationship between Judges 3:3 and Josh. 13:5 (that the former is NOT just an abbreviation of the latter). If not, then we have to understand why Chr. took only that term from Judges 3:3, in a description that seems related to Deut. 3.

Yigal Levin

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: kgraham0938 at comcast.net 
  To: Yigal Levin ; b-hebrew ; biblical-studies at yahoogroups.com ; biblicalist at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 4:24 AM
  Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Baal-Hermon


  I'm wondering if BAAL-HERMON is referring to the high places that exist on top of Mt Hermon.  Or maybe the NIV rendering is correct and take those vavs as appositional.

   1 Chronicles 5:23 The people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous; they settled in the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir (Mount Hermon).


  --
  Kelton Graham 
  KGRAHAM0938 at comcast.net

    -------------- Original message -------------- 
    From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 at mail.biu.ac.il> 

    > Baal-Hermon appears in the boundary of the land not conquered by Joshua, 
    > according to the abbreviated description in Judges 3:3: "From Mount Baal-Hermon 
    > unto Lebo-Hamath". In the more complete text in Josh. 13:5, the same boundary is 
    > described as stretching "from Baal-Gad under Mount Hermon unto Lebo-Hamath." 
    > While some scholars have attempted to explain the name "Baal-Hermon" as 
    > designating the peak of Mount Hermon, overlooking Baal-Gad itself (probably in 
    > the southern Baqa', near Hasbayeh), most assume either that the names are 
    > synonymous, or even that the version in Judges is erroneous, a "ghost 
    > place-name" caused by the abbreviated boundary-list. However Baal-Hermon is also 
    > given as part of the bounda ry of the Transjordanian half-tribe of Menasseh in 1 
    > Chr. 5:23: "from Bashan unto Baal-Hermon and Senir and Mount Hermon". This could 
    > be seen either as evidence of there actually being such a place, which was known 
    > to either the Chronicler or his immediate source, even though 
    > it is not mentioned anywhere else, or of the fact that the Chronicler or his 
    > immediate source, when composing his description of the Menassite territory, 
    > chose to combine this particular element from Judges 3:3 with the other names 
    > that seem more based on Deut. 3:8-13 (which is the only other place in which 
    > Hermon, Senir and Bashan are listed together, in a description of the 
    > Transjordanian tribes). 
    > 
    > So which is it: is there such a place (and where is it), or did the Chronicler 
    > pick up a "ghost-name" from an unexpected source? 
    > 
    > Yigal Levin 
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