Biblical Hebrew Forum

["uri hurwitz" <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

   Ian's point does reflect of course the views of some, Rainey for
example. Others have different views. For a diametrically opposite view
you may wish to look into Th. Meek's Hebrew Origins where he clearly and
quite elaborately states that Hebrew and Apiru are linguistically
identical.

    I don't wish to enter here the question whether one can or cannot also
make a social connection (here again many, including Rainey hold that
there is none, and the connection should be made with the Shasu). I would
only mention the statement made long ago: "Not all Apiru were Israelites,
but all Israelites stemmed from the Apiru." For obvious reasons, I cannot
accept it fully.

     Finally, of course there has been tremendous progress in recent
decades, archaelogically and linguistically, etc., but it would be foolish
to disregard views that can be held as valid only because they are not
fresh from the press.
 
                                   Uri Hurwitz