Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Jim,

[Jim]
 If we
understand how  the Patriarchal narratives use the word MWLDT, we will see 
that
the Patriarchal  narratives do not portray the Hebrews or the pre-Hebrews as
being indigenous to  Mesopotamia.  On the contrary, in  accord with the most
recent "discoveries" of modern historians, the Patriarchal  narratives view 
the
Hebrews and the pre-Hebrews as being indigenous to Canaan or  greater Canaan,
not to Mesopotamia.  As we keep on seeing in these posts on the 9 occurrences 
of
the word  MWLDT in the Patriarchal narratives, the word MWLDT in the 
Patriarchal
narratives refers to "father's descendants", not to "the geographical locale 
of
one's birth".  Once we understand  how the author of the Patriarchal 
narratives
uses the word MWLDT, we will see  that Abraham's brother Haran is not 
portrayed
as being born in Ur, and Abraham  is not portrayed as being born in Harran.
Rather, the Patriarchal narratives view all of those people as having  been 
born
in Canaan or greater Canaan, not in  Mesopotamia.

[Bryant]
Look at Genesis 11:27-32 in which it unambiguously states that Terah lived in 
Ur
of the Chaldees. In fact, it states that Haran, Abram's brother died in Ur of
the Chaldees (11:28). Furthermore, the Abrahamic Covenant statement in 12:1,
"The LORD had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your 
father's
household and go to the land I will show you' " would not make any sense at 
all,
IF, and I say again, IF, the land that Abram is currently in at the time of 
the
announcement of the covenant is in Canaan NOT Ur of the Chaldees. Not only 
that,
but 12:4 clearly indicates that Abram left Ur for Haran with Lot at 75 years 
of
age. Then 12:5 says that Abram, with Sarai and Lot, and all their possessions
from Haran for Canaan. Also 11:27 uses TWLDT not MWLDT. I do not think that
MWLDT is the issue here, because it is obvious that it means "kindred; 
father's
descendants, etc."

Finally, the narratives of Isaac show that his wife (cousin), Rebekkah, family
(from Betheul Abram's brother) was from Aram Naharaim and Nahor near Haran. 
Not
only that, but Rebekkak had Jacob obtain a wife from relatives from Paddan 
Aram
near Haran not from Canaan as Esau had (in this case, nieces Leah and Rachel).
See Genesis 24:10; 28:5-7. Aram Naharaim, Nahor, Haran and Paddan Aram are in
Northwest Mesopotamia (ancient and modern day Syria).

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <JimStinehart AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 1:58 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Mowledeth


>
> One key to understanding whether the Patriarchal  narratives portray the
> Hebrews as being indigenous to Mesopotamia is to analyze  the 9 occurrences 
> of
the
> word MWLDT ("mowledeth") in the Patriarchal  narratives.
> In my last post, we saw that at Genesis 32: 10,  Jacob/"Israel" interprets a
> divine command to "return to thy land and to thy  MWLDT ("mowledeth)" to 
> mean
> "to return to thy land and to thy father's  descendants", rather than 
> meaning
> "to return to the land of thy birth".  As noted in that post, when the words
> "land" and MWLDT are separated by the word "and" in the Patriarchal
> narratives,  the vast majority of standard English translations translate
MWLDT to mean
> "kindred" or some other term referencing the person's "father's 
> descendants",
>  rather than translating MWLDT to mean "birth" or "nativity" or "native
> (land)".
> In this post, we will examine the first of two statements  by YHWH that 
> Jacob
> interpreted at Genesis 32: 10.  In the first such statement by YHWH, at
> Genesis 31: 3, MWLDT and "land" are separated by "and".  As usual, we will 
> see
> that MWLDT must  mean "father's descendants" or "kindred" there, and cannot
mean
> "the  geographical place of one's birth".
> GENESIS 31: 3
> "And the LORD [YHWH] said unto Jacob:  'Return unto the land of thy fathers,
> and  to thy MWLDT;  and I will be with  thee.'"  Genesis 31: 3
> 1.  We see  here that the words MWLDT and "land" are separated by the word
> "and".  For this reason, most standard English  translations correctly
translate
> MWLDT here as "kindred", which means "father's  descendants".  All 6 of the
> following 6 standard translations use the word "kindred" here for MWLDT:  
> King
> James Version, JPS1917, Darby,  Young's Literal Translation, Revised 
> Standard
> Version, English Standard  Version.
> The question is whether YHWH is saying the same thing  twice here, or rather
> whether YHWH is saying two separate things to Jacob.  Moreover, even if
> Genesis 31: 3 in  isolation were viewed as being slightly ambiguous, Genesis
32: 10
> clarifies its  meaning.
> 2.  Here at Genesis 31: 3,  the phrasing itself suggests that MWLDT means
> "father's descendants", not "the  geographical locale of one's birth".  
> Jacob
is
> told both to return to the land of Jacob's fathers, and also to  return to
> Jacob's MWLDT.  The phrase  "land of your fathers" lets us know that it's
Canaan,
> and that turn of phrase  strongly suggests the meaning of "homeland".  But 
> in
> addition to being told to return  to Canaan, Jacob is also being advised to
> return to Jacob's MWLDT.  That must mean that Jacob is being told  to return
to
> his "father's descendants", Jacob's MWLDT.  Jacob must deal with his
> potentially  hostile older twin brother Esau.  And, in many ways more
importantly,
> Jacob should, as will now be  discussed, go back to Canaan so that Jacob's
sons,
> who are becoming teenagers at  this point, will for the most part be able to
> marry Jacob's MWLDT/"father's  descendants".
> 3.  Who should most of  Jacob's sons marry?  The implicit  answer here, 
> based
> on YHWH's admonition that Jacob should return to Jacob's  MWLDT/Jacob's
> father's descendants, is that for the most part, Jacob's sons  should marry
Isaac's
> female descendants (by Isaac's children other than Esau and  Jacob).  We 
> know
> that there are  certain exceptions to this general rule.  Each of Judah and
> Joseph marries a foreigner.  Yet as to Jacob's other 10 sons, each of  whom
has
> a "normal" marriage not involving strange circumstances like the  marriages
> of Judah and Joseph, it seems likely that each main wife #1 of Jacob's  
> other
> 10 sons may have been a blood descendant of Isaac by a child of Isaac  other
> than Esau and Jacob, i.e. was one of Jacob's MWLDT/"father's  descendants".
We
> see this  indirectly when one minor wife of one of Jacob's sons is a 
> Canaanite
> (rather  than being a descendant of Jacob's father), which is considered so
> usual that it  is specifically noted:
> "And the sons of Simeon:  Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin,  and
> Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman."  Genesis 46:  10
> The implication there seems to be that Simeon's main wife  #1 was, as usual,
> a descendant of Isaac, who bore Simeon five sons.  In addition, Simeon also
> had a minor  wife, a Canaanite, who bore Simeon one son:  Shaul.
> CONCLUSION
> Jacob has been divinely advised at Genesis 31: 3 (and  Genesis 31: 13) to
> return to Jacob's father's descendants (Jacob's MWLDT).  That means that 
> Jacob
> can count on YHWH  to protect Jacob and Jacob's family from any hostility 
> that
> Jacob's older twin  brother Esau may have (since Esau is a prominent member 
> of
> Jacob's MWLDT/Jacob's  father's descendants).  And it also  arguably implies
> that most of Jacob's sons should marry female descendants of  Jacob's father
> Isaac (who are likewise Jacob's MWLDT), namely such females who  are
descendants
> of Isaac's children other than Esau and  Jacob.
> One key to understanding the Patriarchal narratives is to  understand how 
> the
> word MWLDT ("mowledeth") is used in the Patriarchal  narratives.  If we
> understand how  the Patriarchal narratives use the word MWLDT, we will see
that the
> Patriarchal  narratives do not portray the Hebrews or the pre-Hebrews as
> being indigenous to  Mesopotamia.  On the contrary, in  accord with the most
> recent "discoveries" of modern historians, the Patriarchal  narratives view
the
> Hebrews and the pre-Hebrews as being indigenous to Canaan or  greater 
> Canaan,
not
> to Mesopotamia.  As we keep on seeing in these posts on the 9 occurrences of
> the word  MWLDT in the Patriarchal narratives, the word MWLDT in the
> Patriarchal  narratives refers to "father's descendants", not to "the
geographical
> locale of  one's birth".  Once we understand  how the author of the
Patriarchal
> narratives uses the word MWLDT, we will see  that Abraham's brother Haran is
not
> portrayed as being born in Ur, and Abraham  is not portrayed as being born 
> in
> Harran.   Rather, the Patriarchal narratives view all of those people as
> having  been born in Canaan or greater Canaan, not in  Mesopotamia.
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
>
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