[b-hebrew] )BYMLK vs. Abimelech vs. Abi-Molech
Isaac Fried
if at math.bu.edu
Thu Apr 16 02:28:14 EDT 2009
George,
I said it before, and now with your permission, I will say it again.
I see it a mistake to read a Hebrew name as if it were a
grammatically structured word. All I would say about ABIYMELEK is
that it apparently contains the two fractions AB, 'father, person of
importance' and MELEK, 'king'. The internal -IY- is, methinks, the
English 'he'. Thus, it is not specifically and factually 'a father of
a king', or 'my father is a king', but rather more broadly 'he is a
nobleman, a king'.
In fact, we find women named ABIYGAIL, ABIYHAYIL, ABIYTAL and ABIY
$AG, but never EMGAIYL, or UM-GAIYL. BAT-$U(A of 2Ch. 3:5 was the
daughter of AMIYEL.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
On Apr 14, 2009, at 6:51 PM, George Athas wrote:
> Jim,
>
> Some gaps and problems with your thesis:
>
>
> 1. ABYMLK could simply mean "My father is king". This is a
> perfectly acceptable name. I don't know why you've avoided it as a
> possibility.
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