Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

David Hamuel:
 
To my statement “As to heth vs. aleph in initial position, some versions of
the Samaritan Pentateuch have )BRN for ‘Hebron’”, you wrote:
 
 ”Which version? MS?”
 
M23
 
Let me type out here the relevant small portions of four different entries in 
HALOT.  The first three show an aleph:  ).  The last one oddly shows an ayin: 
 (.
 
1.  “XBRWN, Sam. M23  )ibron…Gn 13: 18….”
 
2.  “XBR[W]NY, Sam. M23  )abruni…Nu 3: 27;  26: 58….”
 
3.  “XBR, Sam. M22  )abar  [as a noun]…2.  charm, spell, enchantment…Dt 18: 
11….”
 
4.  “XBR,…Sam. Ben-H,  (abar  [showing an ayin here, not an aleph]…2.  
grandson of Asher Gn 46: 17;  Nu 26: 45….”
 
*       *       *
 
By contrast, as far as I can see, XBL in Deuteronomy as a noun, and XBL in 
Exodus as a verb, is  n-e-v-e-r   )BL in the Samaritan Pentateuch.  So if JBR 
on 
the Thutmosis III list demands an aleph, or (more likely) demands a word that 
at times could start with an aleph, XBR and XBRN may be possibilities, but 
perhaps XBL was not possible.  As to )BL, which does start with an aleph, JBR 
is 
invariably matched by scholars to the Canaanite word )BL, meaning “pastureland
” or “meadow”, or perhaps “long, narrow field”.  [HALOT gives as part of 
its definition of XBL as a noun:  “piece of field (to be allotted….  Area (‘a 
long, narrow strip of land’)….”]  But )BL used in the sense of “meadow” is 
exclusively a Canaanite word, not a Biblical Hebrew word in good standing.  
The 
Bible only picks up )BL as a topographical noun describing places in Canaan 
when )BL is part of a Canaanite geographical place name.  Accordingly, XBR 
may, 
surprisingly enough, be the closest Biblical Hebrew equivalent as a common 
noun to JBR on the Thutmosis III list.  XBR could be )BR, per the Samaritan 
Pentateuch, so the first letter can match to JBR.  Perhaps that was not 
possible 
for XBL, and )BL is not a Biblical Hebrew common noun referring to the 
topography of Canaan.  So for lack of better alternatives, XBR may be the 
closest 
Biblical Hebrew equivalent there is to JBR, even though in the Bible XBR is 
not 
expressly used to mean “meadow”.  XBL never appears in Genesis, so there are 
many reasons for doubting that XBL was available as the Biblical Hebrew 
equivalent of JBR on the Thutmosis III list.
 
Based on the Egyptian letters JBR that appear in 4 items on the mid-15th 
century BCE Thutmosis III list, JBR + N could be (amongst other 
possibilities) 
XBRWN or )BRWN.  XBRWN is in the Masoretic Text and most versions of the 
Samaritan Pentateuch.  )BRWN is in at least one version of the Samaritan 
Pentateuch.  
Egyptian J is more likely to be aleph than heth, but both are possibilities.
 
My theory of the case is that the southern Hebrews in their sacred scripture 
consistently used initial heth in many cases where most other people in 
Canaan 
had long ago shifted to using initial aleph.  Though the Samaritan Pentateuch 
is not very accurate compared to the Masoretic Text as to substantive 
content, it may be as old, if not older, than the Masoretic Text.  Moreover, 
the 
Samaritan Pentateuch may accurately reflect common, vulgar spellings of some 
Hebrew words, whereas the Jerusalem scribes assiduously insisted on 
exclusively 
using the old, proper spelling of all such common words.  The uniformity of 
spelling of common words in the Hebrew Bible militates against the Bible 
representing a broad cross-section of the various spellings of west Semitic 
words that 
undoubtedly existed throughout Canaan, where almost every group of people had 
its own patois.
 
Accordingly, the presence of Egyptian J in JBR is not incompatible with 
viewing JBR, referencing the Aijalon Valley at item #99 on the Thutmosis III 
list, 
as being one linguistic basis of XBRWN/)BRWN/XBRN:  the Patriarchs’ “Hebron” 
in Genesis.  The Samaritan Pentateuch helps us see that XBRN could be )BRN 
among the northern Hebrews and the Canaanites.  )BRN is )BR + N.  )BR also 
appears in its own right for XBR in the Samaritan Pentateuch.  )BR looks an 
awful 
lot like JBR on the Thutmosis III list.  The first two letters match 
perfectly, 
and Egyptian R could be either resh/R or lamed/L.  )BR thus matches JBR for 
all three letters.  If )BR is both JBR and XBR, then we must begin to wonder 
if, 
outside of the Bible, XBR might have at times been used as a noun where XBL 
is later exclusively used in the Masoretic Text.  The consonantal sounds are 
so 
close, and even the meanings are related.  XBR and XBL are interchangeable as 
nouns at Hosea 6: 9 and I Samuel 10: 5, 10.
 
XBR may effectively have been the early Hebrew equivalent of JBR on the 
Thutmosis III list, even though the meaning differs slightly, as opposed to 
the 
Biblical Hebrew treatment of XBR and XBL.  Moreover, XBR has the  
p-e-r-f-e-c-t  
primary meaning for where Abraham sojourns, asserting that Abraham and his 
descendants are eternally and divinely “bound”/XBR to southern Canaan.  For 
all 
these reasons and more, I see the Patriarchs’ “Hebron” as being based in part 
on JBR at item #99 on the Thutmosis III list.  Both the Patriarchs’ “Hebron”
/XBRWN/)BRWN and such JBR item reference the Aijalon Valley, which was the 
ideal locale for Abraham the classic pastoralist. 
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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