Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Etymology of "Qadesh Barnea"

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] Etymology of "Qadesh Barnea"
  • Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 11:20:53 EDT


Etymology of “Qadesh Barnea”

What Is “Qadesh Barnea”?

No one knows more about the name “Qadesh Barnea” in the Bible than our very
own Yigal Levin (who spells the name “Kadesh-barnea”). His
meticulously-researched scholarly article, “Numbers 34: 2-12, The Boundaries
of the Land of
Canaan”, about half of which is devoted to Qadesh Barnea, is available here:

_http://www.jtsa.edu/Documents/pagedocs/JANES/2006%2030/Levin30.pdf_
(http://www.jtsa.edu/Documents/pagedocs/JANES/2006%2030/Levin30.pdf)

In that article, Yigal Levin largely demurs as to the etymology of “Qadesh
Barnea”:

“While the name ‘Kadesh’ obviously refers to a sanctuary or holy spot, the
meaning of the appellation ‘barnea’ is not clear.” At p. 63.

What does “Qadesh Barnea” mean? Where is that peculiar name coming from?

“Qadesh Barnea”, usually transliterated as “Kadesh-barnea”, is spelled
qof-dalet-sin/shin-bet-resh-nun-ayin/Q-D-S/Sh-B-R-N-e. (There were no
dashes, and
probably no spaces, in the original texts. I use a small e here to represent
an ayin that may not be part of the root word, and later I will similarly use
a small a to represent an aleph that may not be part of a root word.)

Note that despite the ubiquitous English transliteration “Kadesh-barnea”
with a K, the first letter of this name is nevertheless a qof/Q, not a kaf/K.
At
p. 63, Yigal Levin states as to this issue: “The toponym qof-dalet-sin/shin
-- Qds [is] vocalized ‘Kadesh’….” [Yigal Levin’s article presents the
Hebrew letters in Hebrew, which unfortunately my computer does not allow me
to do,
so I have spelled out the names of the Hebrew letters in English in quoting
this sentence of the article.]

Perhaps I do not understand what that sentence is saying. But the fact
remains that both the name “Qadesh Barnea”, and the name “Qadesh” for the
super-famous independent city-state on the Orontes River in northern Lebanon,
start
with the same written letter, qof/Q, not kaf/K.

But enough for now about “Qadesh”. Let’s start by analyzing “Barnea”.

“Barnea” is bet-resh-nun-ayin/B-R-N-e.

The desert oasis of Qadesh Barnea featured a water well
(bet-aleph-resh/B-a-R), and little else. With that as a key clue, the
bet-resh/B-R in this name
here is logically a shortened form of bet-aleph-resh/B-a-R, meaning “water
well”
. B-R is short for B-a-R. (There is a Hebrew word bet-resh/B-R, which means
“grain”, but that makes no sense regarding a desert oasis like Qadesh
Barnea.)

A nun/N as a suffix routinely means “place”, signifying a geographical place
name. Hence Hebron, Shimron, etc. Usually the suffix is vav-nun/O-N, but
here it is nun/N, followed by an ayin.

The nun/N here (in the form nun-ayin/N-e) probably simply means “place”.

The final ayin appears to have no meaning, but rather is a prosthetic ayin,
allowing the nun/N to be more easily pronounced. Thus for example the root
of
Arbe/a-R-B-e (Genesis 23: 2; 35: 27) is R-B, meaning “many”. The ayin at
the end is not part of the root, but rather is a mere suffix that is needed
in
order to be able to pronounce the bet/B properly.

So “Barnea”/B-R-N-e can be understood as meaning “the water well place”,
where B-R means “water well”, N means “place”, and the final ayin is
prosthetic, having no substantive meaning.

Thus the name “Qadesh Barnea” means “the Qadesh that is ‘the water well
place’ in the desert, not the world-famous wealthy trading city-state Qadesh
in
northern Lebanon on the Orontes River”. In other words, the “Barnea” in the
name here is nicely explaining which Qadesh is being referenced. The real
Qadesh, namely the super-famous wealthy independent city-state in northern
Lebanon, was called by the whole world “Qadesh’ (or Qidsu, etc.). The
authors of
the Bible could not change that. Rather, in order to call a desert oasis
between the Negev and Sinai Deserts “Qadesh”, at times certain authors of the
Bible
explicitly distinguished this desert locale by adding “the water well place”
at the end: “Qadesh Barnea”, that is, “the Qadesh that is a water well
place (not the real Qadesh on the Orontes)”.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no name “Qadesh Barnea” in the secular
history of the ancient world. In his detailed article, Yigal Levin does cite
any ancient text that contains the name “Qadesh Barnea”, but rather simply
states:

“Kadesh-barnea…is not known from either literary sources or from
archaeological evidence in the Late Bronze or the Early Iron Ages….” At p.
66.

To that I would simply add that to the best of my knowledge, there is no name
“Qadesh Barnea” in any time period of secular history whatsoever in the
ancient world.

That then raises the following fascinating questions:

1. Why is the Priestly author of Numbers 34: 4 using an apparently
non-historical name, “Qadesh Barnea”?

2. Does “Qadesh Barnea” at Numbers 34: 4 have the same meaning as:

(a) “Qadesh” at Genesis 14: 17?

(b) “Qadesh” at Genesis 16: 14?

(c) “Qadesh” at Genesis 20: 1?

The name “Qadesh” is one of the best-attested names in the entirety of the
ancient world. Entry #1 on the famous Thutmosis III topographical list, to
take one obvious example, is qid-su/Qadesh. The Amarna Letters, to take
another
famous example, feature the name Qidsu/Qissa/Qinsa/Qadesh ten times. In
secular history, “Qadesh” meant the world-famous wealthy independent
city-state of
Qadesh on the Orontes River in northern Lebanon.

But there is no “Qadesh Barnea” anywhere in the secular history of the
ancient world, as far as I know. Not one single reference in any ancient
document.
Nothing.

For all 12 out of the 12 cities in Canaan near which the Patriarchs are
portrayed as sojourning in the Patriarchal narratives, the names of those 12
cities
are attested in the secular history of Late Bronze Age northern Canaan. Why
would we expect “Qadesh” to be different? If every other name of a city (as
opposed to names of trees, wells and campsites, which are referred to in the
text by Patriarchal nicknames not known to secular history) is an historical
name of a city whose name is attested in the Late Bronze Age, why would we
then
expect “Qadesh” in the Patriarchal narratives to be a fictional name of a
city, with such name being unknown to secular history in any time period?
(Note
that the name “Qadesh Barnea” does not appear in the Patriarchal narratives,
a text which I myself view as having great historical accuracy in a Late
Bronze Age northern Canaan context.)

3. Which then brings us right back to question #1. Why does the Priestly
author use a non-historical name, “Qadesh Barnea”, at Numbers 34: 4?

Until and unless we understand where the names “Qadesh” and “Qadesh Barnea”
are coming from as geographical place names in the Bible, we will not
understand the historical foundation of Judaism.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page