Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Was Abraham Born in Mesopotamia?

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Was Abraham Born in Mesopotamia?
  • Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:12:30 EST


Uzi:
You wrote: “there are also references to towns being known differently at
one point )
and Beit El which was once luz, and hevron nee kiryat arba). the semi
mythical nature would explain the multiple versions of events, the doublets,
the
same events featuring different characters, the rounded numbers (in baylonian

style) of 180, 120, 40. so wouldn't you agree that while some of the semi
mythical information may originate from sources from, say, the 15th century,
that the writer who
ultimately put this fathers cycles together would have lived in the 8th
century BCE at the earliest?”
I disagree completely. We’re not talking myths when we’re talking the
Patriarchal narratives.
In this post, let me focus on your common misunderstanding about Luz and
Bethel. There are two Bethels in the Patriarchal narratives. The name
"Bethel" means “house of God”, and so could be applied to any cite where a
Patriarch encounters YHWH.
Abraham’s Bethel/Ai is the Bethel we know today. It is between Jerusalem
and Shechem. That Bethel was located next to the recently abandoned city
of
Ai in Abraham’s day. That Bethel is referenced after Abraham travels south
from Shechem, and Luz is never mentioned in connection with that Bethel.
That
site had the name Bethel before the first Hebrews got to southeastern
Canaan.
Note that Abraham is not portrayed as naming that site "Bethel", and the
narrator uses the name Bethel as if that site had long been called Bethel
(long
before Jacob's birth), which indeed was the case.
By sharp contrast, Jacob’s Bethel is in a completely different location,
near Mt. Lebanon in southern Lebanon. It’s secular name was Luz. In
secular
history, Luz almost certainly is historical Luweiziyeh, located 4 miles
northwest of Banias at the foot of Mt. Lebanon in the _Golan Heights_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights) . "Luz" is simply the shortened
Hebrew
version of "Luweiziyeh". Southern Lebanon is part of Canaan, so Luz is in
Canaan.
Jacob calls Luz “Bethel”, because Jacob has important encounters with YHWH
there, including the famous Jacob's Ladder experience. Note that Jacob’s
Bethel always references Luz. Your basic contention that Luz was an older
name, that became displaced by the later name Bethel, is specifically
refuted by
the text itself. The last reference to this place in the text simply refers
to it as “Luz” (with no reference to "Bethel"). That was not an old name,
now abandoned, but rather is the secular name of this place near Mt.
Lebanon.
Here are the textual cites:
“And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of the city was
Luz at the first.” Genesis 28: 19
“So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is
Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him.” Genesis 35: 6
Note that Jacob’s “Bethel” is always closely associated with secular
historical Luz (Luweiziyeh).
“And Jacob said unto Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the
land of Canaan, and blessed me’”. Genesis 48: 3
The Patriarchs knew that the actual name of this place in southern Lebanon
was Luz. “Bethel” is just a Hebrew nickname that Jacob applied to the
place,
because Jacob met YHWH on two important occasions at that site.
When the Patriarchs are in southern Lebanon, they sometimes use names from
southern Canaan to apply to a site in southern Lebanon as a new Hebrew
nickname, if there is some connection in their experience between the two
different
geographical sites. The Patriarchs know that there is a Beersheba in the
northern Negev Desert. That Beersheba is referenced, but only once, in the
Patriarchal narratives at Genesis 46: 1. The rest of the "Beershebas" in the

Patriarchal narratives are locales in southern Lebanon where a water well has

been providentially found. "Beersheba" means "on oath -- a well!".
Likewise,
Jacob's "Bethel" is located in southern Lebanon, at Luz. That was Jacob's
"house of God", where Jacob had two profound encounters with YHWH. So it
makes
sense for Jacob to give historical Luz the Hebrew nickname of "Bethel",
somewhat comparable to his grandfather's Bethel north of Jerusalem.
Everyone loves to hate southern Lebanon and Sur ("Tyre") because chapters 27
and 28 of Ezekiel condemn Sur in such strident terms. Evangelical Christians
even see Sur in chapters 27 and 28 of Ezekiel as symbolizing the Devil
himself. But that's all 1st millennium BCE history, coming about 700 years
after
the Patriarchal Age. The Hebrews liked Sur and southern Lebanon in the 2nd
millennium BCE. In the early 1st millennium BCE, Solomon is portrayed as
getting rich selling wheat to Sur. I Kings 5: 15, 25 It makes sense for
the
Patriarchal narratives to portray Isaac as getting rich growing wheat in
southern Lebanon and selling the wheat to Sur. Genesis 26: 12-14
Jacob's "Bethel" is historical Luz/Luweiziyeh in southern Lebanon (not
Abraham's Bethel/Ai north of Jerusalem). Abraham's and Isaac's "Beersheba"
is a
site east of Sur ("Tyre") in southern Lebanon (not the well-known Beersheba
in
the northern Negev Desert). If we can drop our hatred of southern Lebanon
and Sur, which makes no sense whatsoever prior to the 1st millennium BCE, we
can see that the Hebrew Patriarchs are portrayed as prospering in southern
Lebanon in the Patriarchal narratives.
None of this is "semi-mythical". Rather, it's all tracking the
well-documented secular history of the mid-14th century BCE.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page