Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] )BL Mistranslated at I Samuel 6: 18

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] )BL Mistranslated at I Samuel 6: 18
  • Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:19:58 EST


)BL Mistranslated at I Samuel 6: 18

The Masoretic text of I Samuel 6:18 refers to )BL HGDWLH at Beth-shemesh.
)BL HGDWLH is logically “Meadow the Great”, and in modern English is the
place
we today call the Sorek Valley. Beth-shemesh was the most important city in
the Sorek Valley. It’s great to see the northern Hebrew and Canaanite
spelling
of XBL, namely )BL, right there in the Masoretic Text at I Samuel 6: 18. On
the mid-15th century BCE Thutmosis III list of places in Canaan, I see the
Sorek Valley as being item #92: JBR. Egyptian J is usually aleph/), and
Egyptian R in a slight majority of cases is lamed/L, so JBR is invariably
viewed by
scholars as being )BL: “meadow”. The Canaanites and Hebrews did not usually
refer to the Aijalon Valley or the Sorek Valley as being “valleys” (places
having a low elevation), but rather referred to them more often as being
“meadows
” or “open pasturelands” (using a word that could also mean “a long, narrow
stretch of land”), because the grassy area at the bottom of those long,
narrow valleys in the northern Shephelah in southern Canaan was ideal for
pasturing
sheep and goats.

So we’ve got )BL for the Sorek Valley in Late Bronze Age secular history, and
there’s )BL big as life in the Masoretic Text at I Samuel 6: 18 referring to
the Sorek Valley. It’s the same word, with the same spelling, for the same
place. Nice. And fully historical.

There are 11 other references in the Hebrew Bible where )BL is the first part
of a geographical place name in Canaan or the Transjordan, meaning “Meadow”,
but all those other references are to places in northern Canaan or east of
the Jordan River. So we know from that geographical distribution, as well as
by
analogy to the Samaritan Pentateuch from the northern Hebrews, that the
northern and eastern Canaan way was to spell this word as )BL, though the
southern
Hebrews spelled the same word XBL. It all makes perfect sense. The
Samaritan
Pentateuch often substitutes an aleph/) for a heth/X, especially in initial
position, in various words. That was often the northern Hebrew way.

But English translators will have none of it! The 2003 JPS Hebrew-English
Tanakh translates )BL as “stone” [ouch!], and explains:

“Reading ‘eben with some Heb. mss., Septuagint, and Targum, most mss. and
editions ‘abel, ‘meadow[?]’.”

KJV “translates” )BL here as “great stone of Abel”, seeming to imply that
there was a city named Abel near Beth-shemesh in the Sorek Valley, in
addition
to )BL being construed as a mistake meaning “stone”. (Except if )BL is not
)BL, and instead is a mistake for the Late Hebrew word )BN/“stone”, then
where
is the “Abel” coming in?) JPS1917 similarly has “Abel by the great stone”.
Go figure. Young’s Literal Translation is refreshing in referring to “the
great meadow”, which is what the Masoretic Text actually says. But I found
no
other mainstream translation like that. The English Standard Version has “
the great stone”, with no footnote. Is that any way to translate )BL? The
New
International Version has “the large rock”, and the following confusing
footnote: “most Hebrew manuscripts villages as far as Greater Abel….”
(Perhaps I
shouldn’t criticize JPS2003 too much, since at least it has a helpful
footnote.)

Why are English translators so horrified to see a northern Hebrew spelling of
XBL in the Masoretic text, namely )BL, describing the Sorek Valley in
southern Canaan? )BL HGDWLH in the Masoretic Text is “Meadow the Great” or
“Great
Meadow”, and is referring to the Sorek Valley, which indeed was a “great
meadow
” that featured the town of Beth-shemesh. )BL HGDWLH is a proper name at I
Samuel 6: 18, so the southern Hebrew copy-editors of the Bible didn’t feel
free
to “correct” the spelling of )BL, to use the standard southern Hebrew
spelling of XBL as a common generic noun. (Most all common words, as opposed
to
proper names, have standardized, southern Hebrew spellings in the Masoretic
Text
of the Hebrew Bible.) So the southern Hebrew copy-editors left the spelling
as )BL. )BL = XBL. They are the same word, with different spellings, that’s
all.

One reason why scholars have failed to see that JBR -- a common noun
representing the Sorek Valley at item #92 and the Aijalon Valley at item #99
-- on the
Thutmosis III list is the Hebrew word XBL is because English translators
insist on “correcting” the Masoretic Text of I Samuel 6: 18, in order to
cover up
the )BL that is so manifestly there. XBL is simply the southern Hebrew
spelling of the word for “meadow” or “open pastureland” or “a long narrow
stretch
of land” that is spelled )BL by northern Hebrews, Canaanites, and a majority
of people in Canaan (hence JBR, per the majority spelling and pronunciation
by
people in Canaan, on the Thutmosis III list).

I see )BL HGDWLH at I Samuel 6: 18 in the Masoretic Text as referring to the
Sorek Valley. I embrace, rather than shun, the northern Hebrew spelling of
the Hebrew word XBL as )BL that is so manifestly on display in the Masoretic
Text there.

* * *

On my previous thread, Kevin Riley made some extremely helpful comments, and
then said:

“You need to find an example where XBR = XBL = )BL….”

I believe I’m half-way home. I Samuel 6: 18 above shows that )BL = XBL. )BL
is simply the northern Hebrew and Canaanite version of XBL. It’s the same
word, whose spelling and pronunciation varied according to the locale of the
speaker/writer.

Similarly, “Hebron”/XBRWN/XBRN in the Masoretic Text is )BRN in the
Samaritan Pentateuch. Same difference. Same phenomenon. XBR as a noun is
spelled
)BR in the Samaritan Pentateuch. Same difference. Same phenomenon. The
northerners and Canaanites sometimes have aleph/), where the southerners at
Jerusalem consistently use heth/X (for common words that are not part of
Canaanite
geographical place names). Everything makes complete sense, and is both
logical
and historical.

Where the southern Hebrews have heth/X, the northern Hebrews have aleph/)
regarding this word that can mean “meadow”. )BL = XBL. Both spellings of
this
word are historical and legitimate, and both spellings are referring to the
same Hebrew word.

In fact, the evidence is so overwhelming on this point [namely, that )BL =
XBL] that scholars have resorted to the desperate expedient of changing the
consonants in the Masoretic text of I Samuel 6: 18!!! That’s not kosher.
)BL is
not “stone”! If I may be permitted to quote James Spinti (completely out of
context) in order to express my considered opinion of what scholars have done
to )BL in the Masoretic Text of I Samuel 6: 18: “NO!”

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

**************Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your
neighborhood today.
(http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=Tax+Return+Preparation+%26+Filing&ncid=emlcntusyelp00000004)




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page