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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Carmel: The Town of David's Abigail
  • Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:00:26 -0500

I have said it before, I will say it again. I think KARMEL is rather the composition KR+ML, where KR is a variant of HR, GR (as in YGAR), QR (as in QIR), 'mount, elevation' while ML is as ML), 'full, replete'.
In the name ABIGAIL the ABI part is, methinks, the Hebrew substantive (AB or )AB, 'large', and is thus comparable to the English name Belle, except that ABIGAIL contains the additional Hebrew substantive GA.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 12, 2009, at 9:47 AM, JimStinehart AT aol.com wrote:


Carmel: The Town of David’s Abigail

Chapter 25 of I Samuel provides us with important, accurate information about
Carmel/KRML, a town in Judah that is associated with one of David’s wives,
the widow Abigail:

“And when the servants of David were come to [the recently widowed] Abigail
to Carmel, they spoke unto her, saying: 'David hath sent us unto thee, to take
thee to him to wife.'” I Samuel 25: 40

The town of Carmel turns out to be much more controversial than one might
think.

In order to figure out the Judean town of Carmel, it makes sense to start
with a basic linguistic analysis (before moving on to examining the significant
amount of information that I Samuel gives us about Carmel/KRML).

KRML is almost certainly KRM + L, where the final lamed/L is a mere suffix.
The 3-consonant root is K-R-M. As a common word in its own right, KRM means “
vineyard”. Adding the lamed/L suffix, which may here be a diminutive, results
in KRML, which has a different meaning: “a garden that produces the finest
fruits”.

These two common words, KRML and KRM, appear at Isaiah 16:10, having the
above meanings:

“And gladness and joy are taken away out of the fruitful field [or ‘garden’
/KRML]; and in the vineyards [KRM] there shall be no singing, neither shall
there be shouting; no treader shall tread out wine in the presses [YQB + YM];
I have made the vintage shout to cease.”

For now, the most important linguistic fact to keep in mind is that the final
lamed/L is a mere suffix (though it changes the meaning of this word and
name). Thus the city name “Carmel” is: KRM + suffix.

In order to find out if this town was already in existence, with this same
basic name, 500 years before Abigail’s day, simply remember that this city name
is, in essence: KRM + suffix.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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