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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Etymology of 'Qadesh Barnea': Ugarit Explains All
  • Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 10:05:37 EDT


Etymology of ‘Qadesh Barnea’: Ugarit Explains All

1. A text from Ugarit refers to the upper Jordan River Valley as GR.


“[A Ugaritic] text contains several other clear references to the Jordan
valley, which it designates as the ‘Ghor’ (gr) -- a word meaning ‘cleft’,
ravine’
. In the Ugaritic texts…it is used absolutely, as the Arabic ghor still is,
to name the ravine par excellence.”

George A. Barton, “Danel, a Pre-Israelite Hero of Galilee”, in “Journal of
Biblical Literature”, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Sept., 1941), at p. 216.

Thus GR originally meant the upper Jordan River Valley, very broadly
construed. Hence “Garu” in the Amarna Letters, and GRR/“Gerar” at Genesis
20: 1.

2. In a Ugaritic text, a well-known city in GR, that is, in the upper Jordan
River Valley, near the Lake of Huleh north of the Sea of Galilee, is Qadesh
of Upper Galilee. “Qadesh” is spelled qds in Ugaritic.

“El set up to his son, Danel, a ‘pillar’…in Qadesh [QDS]. …Danel’s pillar
was a definite pillar in a definite locality, and that locality was Qadesh.
It could not have been Qadesh in the wilderness of Zin [i.e., Qadesh Barnea],
for no southern localities are mentioned in the poem. …Qadesh in Naphtali
[i.e., Qadesh of Upper Galilee] is the Qadesh referred to as is shown by
other
local references soon to be discussed. …[I]n a passage which describes how
Danel destroyed the augury of his enemy Aqahat by destroying his birds, the
eagles
and vultures, we read: ‘He buried them in the fishing-place in Kinnereth.’
…As is well known, the name [Kinnereth] applied to the valley which runs
northwestward from the Sea of Galilee…. This links the Danel stories
definitely
with Galilee. The fishing-place was doubtless the Sea of Galilee.”

Barton, at pp. 216-218

3. Qadesh Barnea, a desert oasis with a name not attested in secular
history, located far southwest of Jerusalem, has nothing to do with GR.

But Qadesh of Upper Galilee goes with GR like hand and glove:

“Qadesh was situated on a hill not far from the edge of the western wall of
the Ghor [GR]. From it one overlooked the Huleh (the waters of Merom) to the
southeast. …Danel was a semi-mythical hero of Galilee….”

Barton at p. 225

4. One cannot think about Qadesh of Upper Galilee without thinking about GR,
Ghor, the upper Jordan River Valley, and GLL/GLYL/Galilee. In the beginning,
that is in the 15th and 14th centuries BCE, GR/GRR/Ghor/Galilee/the upper
Jordan River Valley all had approximately the same meaning. They all
referred to
the land on both sides of the Sea of Galilee, the upper Jordan River Valley,
very broadly construed. Later, the concept of the Jordan River Valley did
not
extend as far east or west, and “Galilee” eventually became limited to the
area west of the upper Jordan River, while continuing to extend all the way
west to the Mediterranean Sea. But in the beginning, the concept of the
upper
Jordan River Valley and Galilee were essentially indistinguishable. GR in
Ugaritic meant both. GRR/“Gerar” in Biblical Hebrew meant both. GR/GaRu/GaR
in
the Amarna Letters meant both. These three examples of GR or GRR eventually
came out as GLL, which in final form was GLYL: “Galilee”. The Egyptian
forerunner of all these names is KRR as item #80 on the Thutmosis III
topographical
list of cities in Canaan (a majority of which cities are located in Galilee).

The archaeological remains of Qadesh of Upper Galilee go back to the Late
Bronze Age. K.A. Kitchen “On the Reliability of the Old Testament” (2003),
at
p. 186.

When one sees QDS and GR, or QDS and GRR, in an ancient Semitic text, the
meaning should be clear. That’s Qadesh (QDS) of Upper Galilee, in
Galilee/the
upper Jordan River Valley (GR or GRR). That’s what those letters meant in
the
Late Bronze Age. Yes, QDS out of context could mean any number of places,
and
often had important meanings not related to geography. But when QDS is
paired
with either GR or GRR, the ambiguity vanishes instantly. QDS of GR, and QDS
of GRR, refer to only one place: Qadesh of Upper Galilee, in the upper
Jordan
River Valley.

QDS and GR, or QDS and GRR, cannot possibly be referencing the fictional name
of “Qadesh Barnea”, as the locale of a desert oasis far southwest of
Jerusalem.

No, QDS of GR, and QDS of GRR, unequivocally reference historical Qadesh of
Upper Galilee, no other Qadesh.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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  • [b-hebrew] Etymology of 'Qadesh Barnea': Ugarit Explains All, JimStinehart, 05/19/2008

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