Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>]

Dora Smith wrote:
> My understanding is exactly that the Banu-yamin referred to by the Maori
> were an Amoritic tribe, ie, they were seminomadic.   They were located at
> the northern end of the hill country and would have ranged through it like
> all other Amoritic tribes in that area.
>
> So if Banu-yamin turn up in central Palestine, there is a good chance they
> are some of the same people - though it is n't proven.
>
Similarity of name is insufficient evidence for identification. You would
have to demonstrate the historical development of the Amorite tribe
mentioned in the OB Mari documents until they became the Israelite
Benjaminites. Otherwise you could claim tha King Jeroboam lived 750 years
simply because an Israelite king of that name appears in the last wuarter of
the 10th century BCE and the first half of the 8th century BCE (ignoring, of
course, the fact that one is the son of Nebat and the other the son of
Jehoash)
Or that all cities named Ur mentioned in Repertoire Geographique des Textes
Cuneiformes are the same city simply because they have the same name. Or
that all cities in the Bible named Qadesh are the same city and in fact
identical with Qadesh-on-the-Orontes; or that...
Jonathan D. Safren