Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

)BL Mistranslated at I Samuel 6: 18
 
The Masoretic text of I Samuel 6:18 refers to )BL HGDWLH at Beth-shemesh.  
)BL HGDWLH is logically “Meadow the Great”, and in modern English is the 
place 
we today call the Sorek Valley.  Beth-shemesh was the most important city in 
the Sorek Valley.  It’s great to see the northern Hebrew and Canaanite 
spelling 
of XBL, namely )BL, right there in the Masoretic Text at I Samuel 6: 18.  On 
the mid-15th century BCE Thutmosis III list of places in Canaan, I see the 
Sorek Valley as being item #92:  JBR.  Egyptian J is usually aleph/), and 
Egyptian R in a slight majority of cases is lamed/L, so JBR is invariably 
viewed by 
scholars as being )BL:  “meadow”.  The Canaanites and Hebrews did not usually 
refer to the Aijalon Valley or the Sorek Valley as being “valleys” (places 
having a low elevation), but rather referred to them more often as being 
“meadows
” or “open pasturelands” (using a word that could also mean “a long, narrow 
stretch of land”), because the grassy area at the bottom of those long, 
narrow valleys in the northern Shephelah in southern Canaan was ideal for 
pasturing 
sheep and goats.
 
So we’ve got )BL for the Sorek Valley in Late Bronze Age secular history, and 
there’s )BL big as life in the Masoretic Text at I Samuel 6: 18 referring to 
the Sorek Valley.  It’s the same word, with the same spelling, for the same 
place.  Nice.  And fully historical.
 
There are 11 other references in the Hebrew Bible where )BL is the first part 
of a geographical place name in Canaan or the Transjordan, meaning “Meadow”, 
but all those other references are to places in northern Canaan or east of 
the Jordan River.  So we know from that geographical distribution, as well as 
by 
analogy to the Samaritan Pentateuch from the northern Hebrews, that the 
northern and eastern Canaan way was to spell this word as )BL, though the 
southern 
Hebrews spelled the same word XBL.  It all makes perfect sense.  The 
Samaritan 
Pentateuch often substitutes an aleph/) for a heth/X, especially in initial 
position, in various words.  That was often the northern Hebrew way.
 
But English translators will have none of it!  The 2003 JPS Hebrew-English 
Tanakh translates )BL as “stone” [ouch!], and explains:
 
“Reading ‘eben with some Heb. mss., Septuagint, and Targum, most mss. and 
editions ‘abel, ‘meadow[?]’.”
 
KJV “translates” )BL here as “great stone of Abel”, seeming to imply that 
there was a city named Abel near Beth-shemesh in the Sorek Valley, in 
addition 
to )BL being construed as a mistake meaning “stone”.  (Except if )BL is not 
)BL, and instead is a mistake for the Late Hebrew word )BN/“stone”, then 
where 
is the “Abel” coming in?)  JPS1917 similarly has “Abel by the great stone”. 
 Go figure.  Young’s Literal Translation is refreshing in referring to “the 
great meadow”, which is what the Masoretic Text actually says.  But I found 
no 
other mainstream translation like that.  The English Standard Version has “
the great stone”, with no footnote.  Is that any way to translate )BL?  The 
New 
International Version has “the large rock”, and the following confusing 
footnote:  “most Hebrew manuscripts villages as far as Greater Abel….”  
(Perhaps I 
shouldn’t criticize JPS2003 too much, since at least it has a helpful 
footnote.) 
 
Why are English translators so horrified to see a northern Hebrew spelling of 
XBL in the Masoretic text, namely )BL, describing the Sorek Valley in 
southern Canaan?  )BL HGDWLH in the Masoretic Text is “Meadow the Great” or 
“Great 
Meadow”, and is referring to the Sorek Valley, which indeed was a “great 
meadow
” that featured the town of Beth-shemesh.  )BL HGDWLH is a proper name at I 
Samuel 6: 18, so the southern Hebrew copy-editors of the Bible didn’t feel 
free 
to “correct” the spelling of )BL, to use the standard southern Hebrew 
spelling of XBL as a common generic noun.  (Most all common words, as opposed 
to 
proper names, have standardized, southern Hebrew spellings in the Masoretic 
Text 
of the Hebrew Bible.)  So the southern Hebrew copy-editors left the spelling 
as )BL.  )BL = XBL.  They are the same word, with different spellings, that’s 
all.
 
One reason why scholars have failed to see that JBR -- a common noun 
representing the Sorek Valley at item #92 and the Aijalon Valley at item #99 
-- on the 
Thutmosis III list is the Hebrew word XBL is because English translators 
insist on “correcting” the Masoretic Text of I Samuel 6: 18, in order to 
cover up 
the )BL that is so manifestly there.  XBL is simply the southern Hebrew 
spelling of the word for “meadow” or “open pastureland” or “a long narrow 
stretch 
of land” that is spelled )BL by northern Hebrews, Canaanites, and a majority 
of people in Canaan (hence JBR, per the majority spelling and pronunciation 
by 
people in Canaan, on the Thutmosis III list).
 
I see )BL HGDWLH at I Samuel 6: 18 in the Masoretic Text as referring to the 
Sorek Valley.  I embrace, rather than shun, the northern Hebrew spelling of 
the Hebrew word XBL as )BL that is so manifestly on display in the Masoretic 
Text there.
 
*       *       *
 
On my previous thread, Kevin Riley made some extremely helpful comments, and 
then said:
 
“You need to find an example where XBR = XBL = )BL….”
 
I believe I’m half-way home.  I Samuel 6: 18 above shows that )BL = XBL.  )BL 
is simply the northern Hebrew and Canaanite version of XBL.  It’s the same 
word, whose spelling and pronunciation varied according to the locale of the 
speaker/writer.
 
Similarly, “Hebron”/XBRWN/XBRN in the Masoretic Text is )BRN in the 
Samaritan Pentateuch.  Same difference.  Same phenomenon.  XBR as a noun is 
spelled 
)BR in the Samaritan Pentateuch.  Same difference.  Same phenomenon.  The 
northerners and Canaanites sometimes have aleph/), where the southerners at 
Jerusalem consistently use heth/X (for common words that are not part of 
Canaanite 
geographical place names).  Everything makes complete sense, and is both 
logical 
and historical.
 
Where the southern Hebrews have heth/X, the northern Hebrews have aleph/) 
regarding this word that can mean “meadow”.  )BL = XBL.  Both spellings of 
this 
word are historical and legitimate, and both spellings are referring to the 
same Hebrew word.
 
In fact, the evidence is so overwhelming on this point [namely, that )BL = 
XBL] that scholars have resorted to the desperate expedient of changing the 
consonants in the Masoretic text of I Samuel 6: 18!!!  That’s not kosher.  
)BL is 
not “stone”!  If I may be permitted to quote James Spinti (completely out of 
context) in order to express my considered opinion of what scholars have done 
to )BL in the Masoretic Text of I Samuel 6: 18:  “NO!”
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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