Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Andrew C Smith wrote:

> [...]

> [3] Perhaps the physical geography of the land played a role. Was it more
> difficult for Northerners to travel to Jerusalem? Making them less likely
> to accept Jerusalem-centered rulers?

There are no real geographic barriers between the "Northern Kingdom" and the 
"Southern
Kingdom". There are some markers, such as the Valley of Beit Horon, and the 
heights
around Mitzpeh, but these are not barriers. The Nahal Soreq is a good 
boundary, but it
doesn't seem to have constituted a geographical barrier to Judah. Jerusalem 
was not on
a "Main Thoroughfare", but it certainly was not inaccessible. We also must 
remember
that Jerusalem was a town in the territory of Binyamin, not Judah.

I think if we are looking to distinguish the Northern tribes from the 
Southern tribes
as moving in separate orbits, geography of the land is not really conducive 
to such a
great divide. Perhaps it was culture, ethnicity, general vocation 
(agriculturalists vs
pastoralists)? Isn't there a tradition that the tribe of Efrayim was somehow 
connected
with Amaleqites? There is also the tradition in Judges about Judah associated 
with the
tribe of Qayin and moving in a general orbit around the southern ranges of 
Judah on
the edge of the Negev, between Hevron and Arad. Perhaps it is because the 
Southerners
originated further south than we see them later? That is, they came to the 
fore in the
areas around Hevron and Arad, and gradually moved northwards towards 
Jerusalem and
Gibeon where they encountered the Northerners. Certainly David is portrayed 
in his
early exploits in the south: `Ein Gedi, Adullam, Qeilah, Hevron, Tziqlag, 
etc. His
origins putting him at Beit Lehem means he was a northern Judahite, or a 
northern
Southerner (if I can put it that way).

Best regards,
GEORGE ATHAS
Dept of Semitic Studies,
University of Sydney
- Email: gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au
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