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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] What Does the Name "Hebron" Mean?
  • Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:40:20 EDT


Pere Porta:

1. You wrote: “We find in the Bible a parallel case that maybe casts some
light on the
issue [regarding “Hebron”] you're dealing with.
Qohelet 1:15 has "(W)XSRWN", (and) lack, deficiency, of XSR, to lack (1Ki
17:16)”.

You have pointed out a fascinating word, XSRWN. As you probably know, that
word only appears once in the Bible, at Qohelet/Ecclesiastes 1: 15. The root
is the verb XSR, which appears 21 times in the Bible, including at
Qohelet/Ecclesiastes 4: 8; 9: 8. The adjectival form of this root, also
spelled XSR,
appears 19 times in the Bible, including at I Kings 17: 16 that you cite, but
also at Qohelet/Ecclesiastes 6: 2; 10: 3.

>From the foregoing, it is obvious that both the verb XSR, and its adjectival
form XSR, are standard Biblical Hebrew. But since XSRWN by contrast only
appears once in the Bible, in the somewhat mysterious Qohelet/Ecclesiastes,
one
senses that XSRWN may be a “made up” word, although its meaning is clear.

Start with the standard verb XSR, meaning “to lack”. Then add –WN as a
suffix, resulting in XSR-WN, meaning “place that lacks”, or even “Lacking”,
as
if “Lacking” were the name of a deserted town or desolate valley. That is to
say, the –WN suffix not only turns the verb into a noun, but also makes it a
noun that could be fitting as the name of a town in ancient Canaan. The
standard translations are “that which is wanting” (KJV, JPS1917), “a lacking
thing”
(Young’s Literal), and “what is lacking” (ESV, NIV). But in my opinion,
XSRWN really means a geographical p-l-a-c-e that is characterized by
lacking.

2. Of great relevance to this discussion is the objective fact that the most
common ending of town names in ancient Canaan is “-on” (in English
transliteration). A quick glance at a map of ancient Canaan reveals the
following
partial list of 19 town names ending in “-on”: Hebron, Ashkelon, Shimron,
Eglon,
Ekron, Gibeon, Hannathon, Madon, Ijon, Sidon, Heshbon, Baal-meon/Beon,
Beth-horon, Gibbethon, Kishion, Raphon, Sharon, Dibon.

Accordingly, the peculiar word XSRWN has the ring of a town name in ancient
Canaan, given the –WN suffix. However, presumably no real town would be
called
“Lacking”, which again suggests that this word, which is unique to
Qohelet/Ecclesiastes 1: 15, is a “made up” word or a nickname, rather than
being a
standard Biblical Hebrew word.

3. You wrote: “Maybe we could say: suffix -WN -together with the vowel
change to segol in the first syllable- turns a verb of first guttural into a
noun
that means
the fulfillment or accomplishment of the concept of this verb. If so, then
we could say the same thing about XBRWN. Do you think this view is right?”

A “segol” is a medieval concept. There was no segol in ancient Canaan.
Accordingly, I do not see how the medieval segol concept could be relevant to
trying to figure out the meaning of “Hebron”/XBRWN in the Patriarchal
narratives.

The main purpose of this thread is to explore whether “Hebron” in Genesis is
referring to a v-a-l-l-e-y (probably the Aijalon Valley, located 17½ miles
west of Beth-el), or rather is referring (on the traditional view) to the
c-i-t-y of Hebron that is prominent in the 1st millennium BCE, but which did
not
exist as a city in the Late Bronze Age.

I am arguing that “Hebron” in Genesis is a Patriarchal nickname for the
Aijalon Valley, rather than the author passively recording the name of the
later
city of Hebron. In order to make my case, I must be able to show that
“Hebron”
would be a fitting nickname for a place that has the following three
prominent characteristics: (1) it is where Abraham has a “binding
friendship” with
certain Amorites, who help him rescue his nephew Lot way up north; (2) it is
the “Hebrew” place, which is the first time in the Bible that the word “Hebrew
” is used, and is where the first Hebrews sojourn longer than any other
place; and (3) is a valley in which the c-i-t-y of Arbe (Kiriath Arbe,
where “
kiriath” means “city”) was located.

The b-Hebrew list is the ideal place to explore whether “Hebron” could funct
ion as a fitting Patriarchal nickname for such a valley. Note in this
connection that Genesis 37: 14 says that Hebron is a “valley”. Genesis 13:
18 says
that a magnificent grove of oak trees (or terebinths) called “Mamre” is “in”
Hebron. That statement makes perfect sense if “Hebron” in Genesis means the
Aijalon Valley, which is famous for its magnificent groves of oak trees, but
does not fit the city of Hebron (located on a high plateau 20 miles south of
Jerusalem). Genesis 23: 2; 23: 19 and 35: 27 appear to say that each of the
city of Arbe, and the magnificent grove of oak trees called “Mamre”, is in
Hebron, that is, in the valley of Hebron. In my opinion, Joshua 14: 15 errs
in
seeing Arbe as a former name for the later city of Hebron. Rather, Arbe is
the
historical Late Bronze Age city of Arabu/Rubu(tu) [“Rabbah” at Joshua 15:
60], in the Aijalon Valley. (All four such names feature R-B as their root.)

4. This then brings us right back to the XSRWN that you cite. I see XSRWN
in Qohelet/Ecclesiastes as being a nickname, referring to a fictional place
that is called “Lacking”, as a metaphor for “that which is lacking” or “what
is
lacking”. Somewhat similarly, I see “Hebron” in the Patriarchal narratives
as being a nickname, a fitting Patriarchal nickname that refers to the
(non-fictional) Aijalon Valley, with the nickname “Hebron” emphasizing three
of the
most important aspects of this place to the Patriarchs: (1) the “binding
friendship” with certain Amorites there [XBR = XBR]; (2) it being the
“Hebrew
place” [XBR = H + (BR]; and (3) it being where the city of “Arbe” was
located
[XBR = H + BR = H + RB (inversion or anagram, where RB = “Arbe”], which is
where Abraham buries Sarah, with this place then becoming the place of burial
for 6 of the 7 Patriarchs and Matriarchs.

I well realize that in the rest of the Bible (which was composed in the 1st
millennium BCE), “Hebron” refers to the well-known 1st millennium BCE town by
that name that is located 20 miles south of Jerusalem. But there was no city
at that location in the Late Bronze Age. Perhaps there had been a town there
in the Middle Bronze Age. But in any event we have nothing to confirm the
name “Hebron” as applying to the locale 20 miles south of Jerusalem prior to
the
1st millennium BCE, which is long past the time of the Patriarchal Age.

I am arguing on this thread that in Genesis, as opposed to the rest of the
Bible, “Hebron” is an apt Patriarchal nickname for the Aijalon Valley. Note
that “Hebron” is never expressly stated to be a “city” in Genesis. In fact,
all five references in Genesis to “Hebron”, each of which is referenced
above,
work better as being references to a valley than as references to a city.
Moreover, if one looks at Genesis 13: 3, 8-12, 18, one can see that Lot goes
17½ miles e-a-s-t from Beth-el to the Jordan River Valley. Since Abraham
had
just said to Lot at Beth-el “if you go left, I will go right, and if you go
right, I will go left”, we would then expect Abraham to be portrayed in the
text
as going 17½ miles w-e-s-t of Beth-el. That would bring Abraham to the
Aijalon Valley, not to the future city of Hebron located 35 miles south of
Beth-el.

The b-Hebrew list question then becomes whether “Hebron” could function in
Biblical Hebrew as a fitting Patriarchal nickname for the Aijalon Valley.
That
is the issue I am raising in this thread. I see both your XSRWN and “Hebron”
/XBRWN in Genesis (though not in the rest of the Bible) as being nicknames
(for a fictional or historical place), not as being historical names of
historical towns or places.

My theory of the case is dependent on there being clever Biblical Hebrew
wordplay throughout the Patriarchal narratives, of the type that I have
suggested.

I see your example of XSRWN as helping my theory of the case a little bit.

I welcome all comments and attacks on my new theory of the meaning of “Hebron”
in the Patriarchal narratives. I myself see “Hebron” in Genesis as being a
Late Bronze Age Patriarchal nickname for the Aijalon Valley, located 17½
miles west of Beth-el.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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