Biblical Hebrew Forum

[MarianneLuban AT aol.com]

In a message dated 7/24/2004 2:14:22 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
uhurwitz AT yahoo.com writes:


> As for the exact meaning and the etymology of the term,opinions are 
> divided, though in many contexts it seems to be "bandits, nomads" and so 
> forth. 
> Certainly so in the Amarna letters.

I don't think this is quite right.  Yes, in the context of the Amarna 
letters, at least, the Apiru would be rebels,  (against the Egyptian Empire) 
and 
every kind of name that is associated with revolt.  In fact, one 
correspondent 
tells Akhenaten that the Apiru have killed just about all the pharaoh's 
representatives in Canaan and that he had better act fast.  But evidently 
Akhenaten 
does not or cannot do much because it is left to his successors to try to 
recover 
these territories--which they never again do with as much success as the 
earlier 18th Dynasty kings.  I don't think Apiru means "nomads", either, for 
reasons I stated before.