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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: George.Athas AT moore.edu.au, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] )BL Mistranslated at I Samuel 6: 18
  • Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:46:30 EST


George Athas:

You wrote: “I don't know where you are getting this all from, Jim. It
doesn't seem to represent what we know of NW Semitic linguistics at all. If
you
consistently change the inherent value of a Semitic consonant, you can make a
text
say whatever you like.”

I agree with that last statement. That is why I strongly disapprove of the
English translations of I Samuel 6: 18 that change )BL to )BN, thereby
changing
“meadow” (or “a long, narrow tract of land”) to “stone”.

My point is that )BL in the Masoretic Text of I Samuel 6: 18 is not a “mistake
”, but rather is like the )BL that we see 11 other times in the Hebrew Bible
as the first element of a geographical place name in Canaan or the
Transjordan.

Are you asserting that )BL is something other than a northern Hebrew or
Canaanite version of XBL? Note that the Masoretic Text has XBRN, whereas the
Samaritan Pentateuch has )BRN. Per HALOT, when XBR is used as a noun in the
Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch has )BR. In both of those cases,
the
aleph/) in the northern Hebrew or Canaanite version of the word is a heth/X
in the
Masoretic Text.

There is no )BL in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, other than the
many times when )BL is used as the first element of a geographical place
name.
But of course XBL is a very common noun in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew
Bible.

I am asserting that )BL is the northern Hebrew version of XBL, and that these
are different, regional spellings of the same Hebrew word.

Why do you say that “It doesn't seem to represent what we know of NW Semitic
linguistics at all”? It is well known that in the Samaritan Pentateuch, one
often sees aleph/) where heth/X is found in the Masoretic Text. And several
posters on my previous thread noted that in many Semitic languages, certain
types of heth often dropped out and were replaced by other letters, usually
aleph.

For example, Aramaic speakers in the east used )QR) for “citadel”, under
Akkadian influence of dropping certain kinds of heths. But Aramaic speakers
in
the west had XQR) for “citadel”. Going outside of NW Semitic, ubburu in
Akkadian has no heth, but scholars think that originally that Akkadian word
had
begun with a heth, which is one reason for seeing ubburu as a cognate for
XBR.
These are some of the important linguistic facts that we learned from posters
on my previous thread.

If )BRN in the Samaritan Pentateuch is XBRN or XBRWN in the Masoretic Text,
then it makes logical sense that the )BL we see at I Samuel 6: 18 may be the
northern Hebrew or Canaanite version of the Hebrew word which, when it is not
part of a geographical place name (a proper name, whose spelling would not be
edited by Jerusalem scribes), is consistently rendered in the Masoretic Text,
when it is a common noun (not part of a proper name), as XBL.

Per HALOT, XBL can mean “a long, narrow tract of land”. The Sorek Valley is
“a long, narrow tract of land”. So that meaning would fit perfectly for )BL
at I Samuel 6: 18, if the reference is to the Sorek Valley. I am trying to
follow the good linguistic advice I received on my prior thread, and move the
ball forward by comparing )BL, in a Canaanite geographical place name at I
Samuel 6: 18 that is an unedited spelling of a proper name, to XBL as a
common
word in the Masoretic Text. I see these as being different regional
spellings of
the same word, )BL vs. XBL, fully in accord with “what we know of NW Semitic
linguistics”.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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