Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Peter Bekins:
 
You wrote:  “Hebrew BXR 'to choose' = Akk bêru 'to choose'.”
 
1.  BXR
 
HALOT gives 5 cognates for Hebrew BXR, 4 of which have heth.  The Akkadian 
beru that you mention is the only cognate without a heth.  So the heth/X in 
Hebrew BXR is an integral part of the root.
 
But XBR and XBRN seem different, as we’ll now see.
 
2.  XBR
 
As to XBR as a verb, HALOT reports that Aramaic had the same word, but beyond 
that, there’s mainly only XBR in Ugaritic.  But that’s a noun, “companion, 
associate”, in Ugaritic.  So the only verb cognate for Hebrew XBR as a verb 
per 
HALOT seems to be limited to Aramaic.  Yet we have previously noted Aramaic 
as having both XQR) and )QR) for “citadel”.  So an initial heth/X in Aramaic 
can be a mere prefix, and may at times be interchangeable with an initial 
prosthetic aleph/), not being part of the root.
 
3.  XBRN
 
Now for the smoking gun.
 
As to XBRWN/“Hebron”, HALOT reports that the Samaritan Pentateuch M23 has 
)ibron.  That’s not a heth!  It’s an aleph.  Is the initial heth/X in “Hebron”
/XBRN a mere prefix, rather than being an integral part of the root, as I 
have 
argued?  If not, and the root of XBRN is XBR (with a heth/X), then why does 
the Samaritan Pentateuch leave off the heth/X and have an aleph/)?  That 
looks 
like XQR) vs. )QR) in Aramaic, where the initial letter in Aramaic or Hebrew 
(not Akkadian) may be either heth/X or aleph/), and in any event is  n-o-t  
part of the root.
 
Once we see “Hebron” being spelled with an initial aleph/), rather than a 
heth/X, in the Samaritan Pentateuch, we must ask whether the initial heth/X 
in 
the normal spelling of XBRN/XBRWN/“Hebron” may be a mere prefix, something in 
the nature of a prosthetic aleph, rather than being an integral part of the 
root.
 
Conclusion
 
The initial heth/X in XBRN/“Hebron” may possibly be a mere prefix.  The 
linguistic support for XBR as the 3-letter root of XBRN, with heth/X being an 
integral part of the root, is much thinner than one might have expected.
 
XBRN/“Hebron” may be X + BR + N.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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