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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "Wells, Wells of Bitumen"
  • Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 09:23:47 EDT


James Christian:

You wrote: “[N]one of the places you describe seem to have undergone such
a massive environmental change that the author felt the need to state that
in those days the valley of Siddim was full of pits of bitumen (as opposed to
a Salt Sea).”

The problem is your misunderstanding of the Hebrew word HW). HW) means “
that is”. HW) does not mean “being the former name of a place that is now
called”. And HW) does not mean “being the former place, which has now been
divinely destroyed by YHWH, and pursuant to massive environmental change, in
its stead there is now”. No, HW) means “that is”. In English, we may have
to supply an implied preposition, but the basic meaning will still be “that
is”.

Let’s start with Genesis 14: 7 again, which references “En-Mishpat HW) QD$”
. That does not mean that En-Mishpat was the former name of a place that
is now called QD$. No, that means that En-Mishpat and QD$ are contemporary,
alternative names for the same place. Today, I might say: “And then they
returned and came to the “Facing-the-Radiance-of Mt.-Hermon” kibbutz, that
is, Qadesh (of Upper Galilee).” That is the e-x-a-c-t modern equivalent of
the first half of Genesis 14: 7. Note that HW) means “that is”, and is
not talking about an old name or old place that has now been replaced by a
new
name or a new geographical reality.

Genesis 14: 3 refers to the contending parties as coming to, for their big,
final battle, “the valley of tilled fields HW) sea the salt”. Depending
on the context, the phrase “sea the salt” could refer either to the
Mediterranean Sea or the Dead Sea, both of which are salt seas. The Hebrews
called
people who sailed the Mediterranean Sea “salts” (Ezekiel 27: 29; Jonah 1:
5), so we know that the Hebrews thought of the Mediterranean Sea as being a
salt sea.

Critical to the issue at hand here is that there are two different “valleys
of tilled fields” referenced at Genesis 14: 1-11. The second half of
Genesis 14: 7 references military actions in the fertile Beqa Valley, which
is a
classic “valley of tilled fields”. The Amorites and Hasi/XCCN TMR were in
the Beqa Valley.

But the big final battle of the “four kings against five” was fought in a
different “valley of tilled fields” -- the Orontes River Valley, in western
Syria. We know from 19th century A.D. European travellers’ accounts that
the Orontes River Valley was the breadbasket of northern Syria, so it is
(like the Beqa Valley) a classic “valley of tilled fields”. (By sharp
contrast, the Jordan River Valley is not a “valley of tilled fields”, as the
land
in the Jordan River Valley is generally too poor for farming.) At Genesis
14: 3, the Hebrew author wants to clarify which “valley of tilled fields” he
is talking about, since Genesis 14: 1-11 will in fact talk about two
different “valleys of tilled fields”. So he adds the clarifying phrase “HW)
sea
the salt”. That makes it clear that he is talking about the “valley of
tilled fields” that is very close to a salt sea, being the Orontes River
Valley,
which is very close to the Mediterranean Sea. The other “valley of tilled”
fields referenced at Genesis 14: 1-11, by contrast, is nowhere close to
any salt sea, as the Beqa Valley is not close to either the Dead Sea or the
Mediterranean Sea.

Chapter 14 of Genesis is not referring to any “massive environmental change”
. HW) does not mean “being the former place, but which now, pursuant to a
massive environmental change, is no longer, and instead we now see at that
locale”. Rather, HW) at Genesis 14: 3 means “that is”. In English, it
helps to supply the implied preposition “near”, so that HW) means: “that is
(near)”.

At Genesis 14: 7, HW) is clarifying that En-Mishpat is an alternate,
contemporary name for QD$. At Genesis 14: 3, HW) is clarifying that the
“valley
of tilled fields” that is being referenced is the one “that is (near)” a
salt sea. In both cases, HW) means “that is”. In the second case, in
English
it helps to supply an implied preposition, “near”, but the meaning is
still basically “that is”. At Genesis 14: 3, HW) is clarifying which of two “
valleys of tilled fields” is being referenced. It’s the salt the sea valley
of tilled fields. That is, it’s the valley of fields which is near a salt
sea. The Orontes River runs parallel to, is very close to, and empties
into, the Mediterranean Sea, which the Hebrews thought of as being a salt
sea.
By contrast, the Beqa Valley is not close to any salt sea. So to clarify
that the Orontes River Valley, not the Beqa Valley, is the “valley of tilled
fields” that is being referenced at Genesis 4: 3, the text uses HW): the “
valley of tilled fields that is salt the sea”, or in better English, the “
valley of tilled fields that is near a salt sea”.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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