Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yaakov Stein" <yaakov_s AT rad.com>]

Jim

> As I see it, Abraham had few if any servants upon leaving  Harran, and

> acquired only one servant (in Damascus), who quickly became  Abraham's
#1 servant, 
> on the long trip from Harran to southeastern Canaan.   

Not that it changes your argument in any substantive way,
but the interpretation of Eliezer having been purchased in Damascus
is almost certainly a misreading.

I assume you got this from DM&Q )LY(ZR, usually translated as Eliezer
from Damascus.
However, note that the servant is usually refered to as a BN M$K,
i.e., belonging to the household.

In one of the Semitic languages (I don't have my sources with me)
the (servant) member of the household is called dar-meshek, 
and that was probably the original reading.

Yaakov (J) Stein